Episode 4.16: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) with Dr. James Milner

Welcome to a new episode of Battle Rhythm, with co-hosts Dr. Wendy H. Wong (Professor of Political Science and Principal’s Research Chair at the University of British Columbia) and Steve Saideman. Steve and Wendy discuss the role of academic voices in public information spaces; along with the Permanent Joint Board on Defence suspension and what it means for US-Canada defence relations. In today’s Feature Interview, Steve speaks with Carleton University colleague and fellow SSHRC Partnership Director, Dr. James Milner of LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network. Dr. Milner highlights the present crisis in global systems meant to protect refugees in the midst of more civilian targets and conflict induced brutality around the world in anticipation of a new co-authored book: Canada’s Role in Global Refugee Responses by Nathan Benson, James Milner, and Delphine Nakache from McGill-Queen’s University Press. Bringing together leading experts from multiple disciplines, Canada in the Global Refugee Regime explores how Canada has influenced global refugee responses and where its impact has been more muted. Chapters examine the country’s actions in international forums; its resettlement and sponsorship initiatives; its engagement in key regional contexts such as Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East; and the links between refugee policy and foreign policy. Contributors reflect on the relationship between Canada’s international leadership and its domestic practices, offering a nuanced account that moves beyond simplistic narratives of benevolence.https://www.mqup.ca/Recent-News/2026/05/Canada-s-Role-in-Global-Refugee-Responses-by-Nathan-Benson-James-Milner-and-Delphine-Nakache James Milner is a Professor of Political Science at Carleton University. He is currently Project Director of LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network, a 7-year, SSHRC-funded partnership between researchers and civil society actors primarily in Canada, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon and Tanzania. He is also Director of the Migration and Diaspora Studies program at Carleton University, Co-Chair of the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network, and Canada’s first De Mello Chair. He has been a researcher, practitioner and policy advisor on issues relating to the global refugee regime, global refugee policy, meaningful refugee participation and the politics of asylum in the global South. He has undertaken field research in Burundi, Guinea, Kenya, India, Tanzania and Thailand, and has presented research findings to stakeholders in New York, Geneva, London, Ottawa, Bangkok, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and elsewhere. He has worked as a Consultant for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in India, Cameroon, Guinea and its Geneva Headquarters. He is author of Refugees, the State and the Politics of Asylum in Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), co-author (with Alexander Betts and Gil Loescher) of UNHCR: The Politics and Practice of Refugee Protection (Routledge, 2012), and co-editor of Refugees’ Roles in Resolving Displacement and Building Peace: Beyond Beneficiaries(Georgetown University Press, 2019) and Protracted Refugee Situations: Political, Human Rights and Security Implications (UN University Press, 2008).