From nationals detained abroad, to dual citizens evacuated from conflict zones or diaspora communities monitored by their states of origin, the status of nationals beyond national borders raises pressing questions for contemporary constitutional and international law. Despite the growing significance of these issues, the relationship between states and their citizens abroad remains under-theorized. Traditionally, states have treated consular assistance, diplomatic protection, evacuation, and other forms of support as matters of discretion, rather than as obligations owed to citizens. The protection of nationals was also once mired in various imperial legacies and is supposed to have been largely replaced by international human rights protections.
This book challenges these assumptions. Drawing on the concept of the "ties that bind" the enduring political, legal, and social relationships that persist beyond territorial residence, it develops a systematic theory of extraterritorial citizenship. The analysis moves from the normative theory of state obligations toward nationals abroad, through the legal framework of extraterritorial jurisdiction, to an examination of three core dimensions of those obligations: recognition, protection, and inclusion. Frédéric Mégret argues that the rights of citizens abroad represent one of the most significant and underexplored frontiers of contemporary transnational human rights law. At a time when unprecedented numbers of people live, work, vote, and face risks outside the state whose passport they hold, rethinking citizenship from beyond the state's borders offers new perspectives on sovereignty, democracy, and rights.
