It's always darkest before dawn

It argues that in order to understand the current refugee regime, interest-based explanations alone are insufficient. Rather, adding a norm-based perspective provides two advantages to our understanding of the emergence of efforts by states to assist and protect refugees.

The first is that it moves beyond traditional regime theory to include the important roles played by other actors such as international organizations and even key individuals. The second is that it allows us to observe how states' identities can be shaped by these actors, as well as the normative environment. In essence, rather than states designing institutions to help refugees to suit their interests, states are instead 'convinced' by other actors to do so.