Media Coverage & Public Commentary
The MOBSANCT project explores how migration is used as a tool of foreign policy, particularly in authoritarian and postcolonial contexts. Our research on migration diplomacy, refugee rentierism, and transnational repression has been featured in major global media outlets and policy-facing platforms.
Ta Nea – Οι δρόμοι της οργής (“The Streets of Rage”) (May 2025)
Front-page commentary by Gerasimos Tsourapas in Τα Νέα weekend edition on youth protest movements, affective mobilisation, and political trauma. The article draws on research conducted as part of the project on authoritarianism, resistance, and transnational repression.
Read article: Tsourapas Ta Nea Youth Protest May 2025
The New Humanitarian – Refugee Rentierism (Aug 2024)
This public-facing explainer article introduces the concept of refugee rentierism—a term coined by Gerasimos Tsourapas to describe how governments leverage the presence of refugees for financial, diplomatic, or strategic gain. The article features Tsourapas’s commentary throughout, including explanations of how host countries negotiate aid, influence international agendas, and convert humanitarian presence into political capital. Drawing on cases from the Middle East and North Africa, it connects academic theory to EU border externalisation and global refugee governance.
Read article: Tsourapas_NewHumanitarian_Refugee-Rentierism_Explainer_2024
The New York Times – Tunisia’s Leverage over the EU (April 2023)
In this New York Times feature, Gerasimos Tsourapas discusses Tunisia’s growing leverage over the European Union amid deepening authoritarianism and economic crisis. Highlighting the concept of migration diplomacy, Tsourapas explains how transit states like Tunisia use their position in the global migration system as a strategic tool to gain financial assistance and political legitimacy from Western partners.
Read article: Tsourapas_NYT_Tunisia_Migration_Leverage_Apr2023
The Economist – Transnational Repression (Feb 2021)
In this Economist feature, Gerasimos Tsourapas comments on the growing ease and affordability with which authoritarian states target political exiles abroad. Drawing on his research into migration diplomacy and diaspora repression, he highlights how democratic governments often enable these practices through extradition agreements, Interpol abuse, and expansive terrorism frameworks.
Read article: Tsourapas_Economist_Transnational_Repression_Feb2021