Exodus: The Largest Movement of People Since the Second World War with Dexter Filkins

Event Date: 

Wednesday, February 28, 2018 - 12:00am

The world is witnessing the greatest mass migration since 1945. More than 65 million people, about one in every hundred on Earth, have fled their homes. Some are internally displaced; others are refugees who have moved to multiple countries. Filkins discusses the three main causes of this giant human tide: the implosion of the Middle East following the Arab Spring; climate change, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where drought and advancing deserts are pushing people to abandon their homes; and famine, because of which at least twenty million people are currently at risk of starvation, most of them in Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia. Filkins surveys these places and discusses ways to address the complex causes of mass migration.

Co-sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center.