The protection of nationals abroad was long a central theme of imperial history, notably as part of a now strongly rejected legacy of gunboat diplomacy. But that practice has undergone significant changes in the last decades as states from the Global South increasingly flex their muscle in protecting their migrant workers and diasporas. The question is whether the protection of nationals abroad is a tradition one would want to rehabilitate, and what it would mean to do so in a world where territory and population hardly always coincide and where the protection of “ethnic kin” can occasionally be used to fuel violence.

About the Speaker:

Frédéric Mégret is Hans and Tamar Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law at McGill University. He held the Canada Research Chair on the Law of Human Rights and Legal Pluralism from 2006 to 2015. He was promoted to full professor in 2019. He was named co-director of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism in 2021. In November 2022, Professor Mégret received an honorary doctorate from the University of Copenhagen in recognition of his work in international law.

The Law Society of Hong Kong has awarded this seminar 1.5 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points.