Аннотация:In the second half of the 20th century the mankind witnessed of the insurmountable and irreversible power of globalization processes, which influence all spheres of social life and create a global system of interdependency between countries and nations. Globalization processes within impetuous changes in global political, social and economic systems have witnessed dramatic shifts in international migration processes that are resulting in formation of a new stage of migration history of the mankind. In today’s globalized world, international migration has become a reality that touches nearly all corners of the globe.
The author considers the features of recent trends of international migration: unprecedented growth of the international migration flows; widening geography of international migration flows by involving practically all the countries of the world in migration flows; qualitative changes in the structure of the international migration flows; determinant role of economic migration; permanent growth and structural intricateness of irregular migration; growth of the scale and geographical widening of forced migration; growing importance of international migration for demographic development of the world, countries of origin and destination. All these trends combined suggest that international migration patterns have become more complex.
Authors analyze the features of legal framework of governance of the international migration processes. Recommendations are given on ways to improve the regulation of migration processes. Specific issues related to social challenges of international migration are also discussed.
Key words: international migration, sociology of migration, globalization of migration, demographic development, migration policy, migration processes