Illuminating the Arts-Policy Nexus 
Illuminating the Arts-Policy Nexus is a fortnightly series of articles on the role of art in public policymaking. This series invites WPI fellows and project leaders as well as external practitioners to contribute pieces on how artists have led policy change and how policymakers can use creative strategies.
In Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World, World Policy Institute Senior Fellow Ian Bremmer illustrates a historic shift in the international system and the world economy—and an unprecedented moment of global uncertainty.
Europe's Closing Borders: A Political Salon with Damaso Reyes
World Policy Institute presents:
Europe's Closing Borders: A Political Salon with Damaso Reyes
Thursday, April 12 at 6:30 pm
This event is by invitation only.
With unemployment rates passing twenty percent in some countries, the Eurozone economic crisis has vindicated nationalist and isolationist political parties in the eyes of many, as a volatile mix of religious and political issues have poisoned the immigration debate. Spain welcomed an influx of migrants during its construction boom, but as its economy has struggled, many migrants have returned home –and those who remain face a populist backlash. Last year Spain began restricting immigration from Romania, reflecting a broader trend across the European Union of governments reneging on open-border policies. In France, embattled incumbent President Nicholas Sarkozy is appealing to right-wing voters by promising to reduce by half the number of family reunification visas and even pull out of the Schengen Treaty Area if other members don't do more to combat illegal immigration. In this Salon, Damaso Reyes explores the impact of the Eurozone economic crisis on populist rhetoric, xenophobia, and fear of radical Islam and suggests where this volatile mix might lead.
About the Speaker:
Based in Barcelona, World Policy Institute Project Leader Damaso Reyes is a freelance journalist currently working on The Europeans, a photographic documentary project exploring how Europe and its people are changing as the European Union expands and integrates. His writing and photography has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, New York, Der Spiegel, Time Asia, and World Policy Journal. Previous assignments and projects have taken him to countries including Rwanda, Iraq, Indonesia, Tanzania, and throughout the United States and Europe. He is a 2008 Fulbright Scholar and a 2012 Knight-Luce reporting Fellow.
Related Reading:
"Living in the Shadows: Navigating Austria's Evolving Asylum Policy" by Damaso Reyes, World Policy Journal Winter 2010-2011
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