Book Review: Rescue. Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time

As Foreign Secretary in Gordon Brown's government, David Miliband was an atypical chief diplomat, especially by introducing social media into the daily life of foreign service, a domain that is usually very reluctant when it comes to transparency and public exposure. 

After finishing his mandate and losing the political battle in his own Labour party against his brother, Ed, he is currently the CEO of the US-based International Rescue Committee (IRC). In this quality, he become acquainted with the refugee crisis in the Middle East and often visited the various conflict areas in Africa. Out of around 25 million official refugees and asylum seekers in the world, only 4 million of them are in camps which creates a need for offering support, especially at the policy level for those seeking a new citizenship status. 

His experiences and warnings in this respect are the subject of a book recently published: Rescue. Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time, which outlines pretty accurately the main challenges and reform directions in this field. Easy to read and appealing to a diverse public, the book is especially recommended to anyone interested to get an idea about the problem, but further development and references are more than necessary. It outlines the historical processes and the need to have a coherent response to populism, but equally a bussiness mindset aimed at obtaining adequate funding. 'Support for refugees is not only about high ideals and global leadership. One of the complex challenges for countries in this crisis centers around responsibility'. The more countries, institutions and individuals are involved the better for offering a proper answer to the current crisis and challenges, shaped not only by political circumstances, but equally by social and human responsibility.

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review