Facilitator: Michael O’Sullivan, Professor of History at Marist College

Today, no countries have open borders. Every state in today’s global system has its laws and policies about who is permitted to cross its borders, and how they will do so. Who determines whether someone is a refugee or a migrant? How have different countries, including the United States, reacted to migration? How effective are the international laws, policies, and organizations that have evolved to assist and protect refugees and migrants? The Great Decisions discussions derive from the Great Decisions annual publication put out by the Foreign Policy Association.