Dangerous Sanctuaries

Vital reading for anyone concerned with how refugee flows affect the dynamics of conflicts around the world.

Sarah Kenyon Lischer is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wake Forest University.

This book offers insights into the causes of violence among refugee communities that will certainly shape academic and policy debates for years to come. Academics focusing on refugee studies and policy practitioners in the field will find Dangerous Sanctuaries to be a worthwhile read.

In this well-constructed and well-argued book, Sarah Kenyon Lischer challenges naïve and uncritical views of refugees and assistance to refugees. She contends that refugees can spread civil war and that humanitarian air can become a tool of war.... Her book is a stimulating, careful, and important contribution to the literature on civil wars, the international dimensions of civil wars, and humanitarianism. The author's framework and analyses will be useful to scholars and practitioners alike.

A thought-provoking analysis that should stimulate analysts and policymakers to rethink their approaches to the problems associated with providing support to people fleeing conflict.... Dangerous Sanctuaries goes beyond the universal, offering an explanation for the cases that seem to fall outside of the predictions of the economic model, and therefore offers us a richer, more nuanced picture of the mechanisms of conflict. This is a valuable contribution to the literatures on civil war and on humanitarian intervention and should assist practitioners and analysts in understanding the complex dynamics of refugee-related violence and humanitarian assistance.

Stephen John Stedman, Senior Fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University:

Sarah Kenyon Lischer takes a vexing problem, violence and refugee crises, and provides a clear, compelling analysis of what can be done about it. Dangerous Sanctuaries is a model of policy relevant research.

Michael Teitelbaum, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation:

In Dangerous Sanctuaries, Sarah Kenyon Lischer addresses an exceedingly interesting and under-attended topic and does so in a well-informed, balanced, and thoughtful manner.