With a blend of in-depth interviews and data analysis across 149 countries, Justin Gest explores how global migration filters people with liberal democratic values out of authoritarian spaces, enabling democratic backsliding around the world. At a global scale, with the correlation between migratory choices and political values Gest introduces a new reason why authoritarian countries may have struggled to democratize in the decades since the end of the Cold War — a period when flows of international migrants have grown so significantly, populism has spread, and authoritarians’ resolve has steadily hardened. At a time when the world is increasingly sorting into democratic and undemocratic spaces, the author’s timely and innovative analysis raises important political and policy questions about how democracies might compensate for the inadvertent effects of global human mobility.

The book presentation will be followed by a discussion moderated by Jean-Louis De Brouwer.

Please, do not hesitate to contact Noemi Meloni at n.meloni@egmontinstitute.be or Maria Gargano at m.gargano@egmonstinstitute.be should you require any additional information

Dr. Justin Gest is a Professor and the Director of the Public Policy Program at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He is the award-winning author of seven books on immigration, democracy, and demographic change. Over the last two decades, he has published his reporting or commentary with news publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and served as a columnist for CNN Opinion and Newsweek.