This book charts new territory by taking emigration, and the policies of sending states toward their citizens abroad, seriously. Laurie Brand's comparative examination of state emigration institutions and policy across Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Jordan places her in an excellent position both to critique and to contribute to literatures on transnationalism and citizenship that are myopically focused on immigration to the North and host country policies toward migrants. Most intriguingly, early research led Brand to frame her investigation in terms of broader questions about the contemporary reconfiguration of “sovereignty in the international system” by home states in response not only to host state actions but also to the changing demands, material resources, and experiences of émigré communities (pp. 10–11, 222).

Through careful historical case studies, Brand seeks to build theory about the institutionalization of émigré policy. She asks: “What are the ‘elements that drive or shape states' policies toward various forms of emigration?’” and “Are these state institutions ‘indicative of changes in the contours of the nation, in the practice of sovereignty, and perhaps even more broadly, in the world system?’” (pp. 3, 8). Underlying her questions is a concern with state resilience, and the ways in which “borders, security and state identity” are produced and reproduced through home states' changing relationships with nationals abroad (p. 23). Each case study is both structured and informed by this “sovereignty-security-identity” nexus.

Brand initiates her discussion by identifying an expanding disjuncture between sovereignty over people and sovereignty over territory (p. 31). Because of her focus on the creation and evolution of home state institutions as a means for states to retain sovereignty over people abroad, she symbolically reclaims global populations of the “stateless, expatriates, guest workers and dual nationals” for the international system. At the same time, she moves beyond the inside/outside dichotomy still common in contemporary discussions of sovereignty, and explores more fluid notions of citizenship and participation (pp. 30–31, 36–37). Perhaps most importantly, the author does not deny the agency or resilience of stateless populations, and the case studies are most lively and compelling when she is able to recount actual cases of bargaining between expatriates and state representatives (pp. 163, 214). Indeed, in these accounts, emigrants become “key actors” in histories of “national political development” (p. 219).

Each country case includes investigation into “macro-historical,” “international politics,” “economic,” “domestic political,” and “security/stability” explanations for state policy toward nationals abroad (pp. 14–18). State efforts to expand sovereignty over people located outside of national territory are initiated for a number of reasons and take many forms. Morocco was quick to visualize émigrés as “cash cows,” and designed a number of policies to attract and facilitate expatriate remittances and, later, investment. In terms of debates about brain drain from developing countries, it is particularly interesting to note state efforts to train workers and facilitate emigration not only as a means to gain needed hard currency but also to expand and improve bilateral ties. In the case of Jordan, which was relatively slow to recognize the direct value of remittances to the domestic economy, state officials understood that labor exports to Gulf states were tied directly to foreign aid receipts (p. 189).

The status of émigrés in host countries proved a particularly valuable set of explanations for changes in home state policy. Located by Brand within the category of “macro-historical” explanations, status includes “evolution of the distribution and size of the community/ies, their degree of economic” and political “integration (and success) in the receiving state, and their self-perception” (p. 15).

Across the cases, home states appear more likely to deploy sovereignty claims as “control over” rather than “protection of” émigrés. Tunisia represents the most extreme case in which expatriate labor was initially conceptualized as functionally equivalent to domestic employment (p. 94). Expatriates were ultimately viewed “as part of the domestic body politic” and “were subject to the same surveillance and harassment regarding political opinions and activities as were their compatriots back home” (p. 128). But sovereignty as “control over” is also negotiated by all parties concerned. Successful home state control over émigrés depends partly on a confluence of interests between home and host states, as well as a weakened status among émigré groups.

Perhaps the most fascinating aspects of the case studies concern negotiations between émigrés and home states over citizenship. Not surprisingly, states were concerned about how expatriates might influence domestic political stability—whether by demanding greater democratization (Morocco, Tunisia), by shifting the balance of domestic power among confessional groups (Lebanon), or by shifting loyalty to competing Palestinian leaders (Jordan).

In Morocco, Tunisia, and Lebanon, Brand argues, changes in émigré status in host countries (longer-term stays, greater opportunities for integration, decline of identity with the home state among successive generations) encouraged states to reconceptualize émigrés—from subjects into citizens—in order to successfully negotiate some form of continued sovereignty over them. In Morocco, for example, the state humanized its subjects in order to “maintain some claim on the communities' energies and resources” (pp. 79, 113). The unanswered question here is: How much of Morocco's domestic liberalization can be ascribed to direct and indirect émigré influence on the state? While it is not possible to answer this question definitively, the effort might produce interesting results.

Finally, Brand notes the importance of host state characteristics and policies, but this set of actors is rather peripheral to her account. Here, she self-consciously mirrors the traditional focus on the interaction between host states and resident foreigners by substituting a near-exclusive focus on the relationship between home states and émigrés. There is no reason, however, why future research could not offer a more equal treatment of all three sets of actors in struggles over sovereignty, security, and identity. Indeed, Brand's accounts are so cogent, considering all the moving parts involved, that a more careful consideration of the role of host states should not overly complicate the analysis or the narrative.