Political Argument
America specifically has been supporting the refugees financially, but we have been lacking in accepting them into our country. It is still clear though, that powerful Nations are not supporting the refugees as much as they could to solve the problem. America should take this as an opportunity to take charge of the situation to relieve some of the millions of refugees that Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey are disproportionately offering protection to , despite their less prosperous and stable situations.
Accepting refugees could have large impacts on the nation as a whole. Nicole Ostrand, a doctoral student at the University of Sussex, is the author of the article written in the Journal on Migration and Human Security. In which she describes the power that powerful industrial nations, the United States included, have to offer to aid in the Syrian Civil war.
To show the impacts of a industrialized power providing assistance with refugees, a balance of both economic support and protection for refugees from industrialized nations would be key. Ostrand writes, “There is significant discrepancy in the level of burden sharing by industrialized states…Countries like Germany and Sweden have provided a relatively high level of protection…Likewise, the United States has contributed a disproportionate share of financial support”. Because of our large donations we are providing some support to refugee organizations, however, the United States has not been offering the same level of protection for the level of prosperity the United States has.
Michael Ignatieff, a political science professor writes in his article for the Boston Globe, that accepting refugees “will help to reduce radicalization in the refugee camps and, when the war is over, and many of these refugees return to their country, they’ll remember that America stood by them in their time of need.” In this way Americas message could target disaffected youth in these camps who are some of the most likely to be radicalized and give them hope. It could also improve our international image, both in the Middle East and Europe, and lead to stronger international relationships with countries like Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon who are all struggling to take care of all the refugees there.
Kurt Eichenwald, bestselling author and former investigative reporter, columnist, and senior writer for Times, in his article for Newsweek, examines ways that smart American foreign policy could stabilize the Middle East. He argues that America is misunderstanding ISIS’s motives and tactics when worrying about refugees is undermining our ability to defeat ISIS’s extremist ideology. Eichenwald explains one of ISIS’s greatest weaknesses, that “ISIS has no real allies among Arab powers,” and without allies their claim to power is weak at best. This allows for simple actions to counter their ideology of hate.
America and Syria would have things to gain from America taking an active role in the refugee crisis and in ending the war. America could improve relations with countries within the Middle East, actively counter ISIS’s propaganda and message of hate, and work to fix this global crisis before it escalates to a further degree. Through accepting refugees America can establish an important ally within the Middle East. However, it is not as cut and dry as that, and that will be explored in a later section.