SIS Book Launch: Aiding Autocrats

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

5:00 - 6:30 PM EST

Abramson Family Founders Room, American University School of International Service

About the Event:

Nicholas Micinski and Kelsey Norman will present their new book: Aiding Autocrats: Migration Management, Governance, and Repression in Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2026). Migration management aid has increased exponentially since 2016, with the EU as the largest contributor to this type of foreign assistance. Drawing on global datasets and in-depth case studies, Norman and Micinski analyze the impact of migration management aid for recipient countries, focusing on North and sub-Saharan Africa. While wealthy countries tout migration management aid as a way of increasing development and stopping emigration from the Global South, Aiding Autocrats exposes how this type of assistance can bolster authoritarianism and allow local elites to leverage aid for their own purposes. The talk will also shed light on the future of migration management in the context of massive cuts to global aid since 2025.

Read more about the book here.

About the Authors:

Nicholas R. Micinski, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Peace, Human Rights & Cultural Relations in the School of International Service. Micinski's research focuses on the global governance of migration, the political economy of aid, development, climate displacement, the United Nations, the EU, and human rights. He is the author of three books: Delegating Responsibility: International Cooperation on Migration in the European Union (University of Michigan Press, 2022), UN Global Compacts: Governing Migrants and Refugees (Routledge, 2021), and Aiding Autocrats: Migration Management, Governance and Repression in Africa, (co-authored with Kelsey Norman, forthcoming Cambridge University Press).

Kelsey Norman, Ph.D., is a fellow for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute and director of the Women’s Rights, Human Rights, and Refugees Program. Her research focuses on the politics of migration and refugee hosting in the Middle East and globally, as well as human rights, comparative political institutions, international relations, and Middle East and North African politics. She also teaches courses in the Department of Political Science and the Master of Global Affairs program at Rice University. Her research has been published in academic journals including the European Journal of International Relations, International Studies Review, the Journal of Global Security Studies, International Migration Review, The Journal of Refugee Studies, Migration Politics, and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, among others. Her first book, “Reluctant Reception: Refugees, Migration, and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa,” was published by Cambridge University Press in 2021.