The external dimension of EU migration policy as region-building? Refugee cooperation as contentious politics

The EU has drawn on its migration policy in the Middle East and North Africa as a method of region-building set to reconfigure broader Mediterranean Neighborhood. At same time, initiative had contentious, albeit understudied, effects. We know little about either variation states’ responses or contextual dynamics motives pushing them challenge vector for regulating regions ‘from beyond’. Building case displacement from Syria, article targets EU’s refugee approach ‘neighborhood’ site contention whereby states, rather than being borrowers, dispute attempt regulate regions. employs insights cooperation with Lebanon, one key regional host states. It shows how Lebanon sought contest adapt script resilience-building, which consists strengthening governments’ capacity refugees ‘within region’ at distance. Looking neighbors agents vessels helps unravel tensions underlying external, regional, bilateral dimensions delineate these overlapping play out ground.