Since 2016, wealthy countries have dramatically increased funding to manage migration, often funding repression in the process. In Aiding Autocrats: Migration Management, Governance, and Repression in Africa, SIS Professor Nicholas Micinski and Rice University co-author Kelsey P. Norman examine how this happens, drawing on data from around the world and detailed case studies of Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan.

In Aiding Autocrats, Micinski and Norman explain where migration-management aid comes from, how it has changed over time, and what it means for governments and the people they govern. They argue that while wealthy countries present this aid as a way to promote development and reduce migration from the Global South, it can actually strengthen authoritarian governments and give political elites more power.

The book also shows how these policies continue older colonial patterns of control and exploitation, with lasting consequences for migrants, refugees, and ordinary citizens. Aiding Autocrats offers a critical look at how foreign aid and migration policies can reinforce repression rather than solve the problems they claim to address.

Micinski and Norman will launch Aiding Autocrats at SIS on Wednesday, September 16 from 5:00 - 6:30pm in the SIS Founders Room. The book talk will also shed light on the future of migration management in the context of massive cuts to global aid since 2025. RSVP here.