292 K. Henrard recognition of a right to a nationality, and the ensuing standards and policies aimed at ending statelessness add to these constraints. Thirdly, the development of other significant citizenships, more particularly EU citizenship, that interact with nationality, de facto pushes states towards a more harmonized approach in relation to nationality issues. Last but not least, the reality of the mobile world—characterized by rising migration—leads to pressing questions of how to optimize the inclusion of migrants (that are there to stay) as full members of the state. These migrant communities and their transnational connections challenge the traditional understanding of belonging, commitment and loyalty. This in turn affects both the way in which birthright citizenship is conceived (with systems of ius sanguinis increasingly including elements of ius soli), and the requirements for naturalisation. At the same time, the analysis confirmed that even when the human rights paradigm increasingly detaches rights from nationality, nationality still matters, greatly, as is also confirmed by the relentless fight against statelessness and the restrictions imposed on deprivations of nationality. Indeed, nationality is still essential for the keystone rights of entry and residence that are prerequisites for the effective enjoyment of the other rights. Similarly, only nationals have full voting rights, and thus truly participate in the governance of the polity. The parameters of nationality will continue to shift, partly in response to the current reality of a mobile world, where persons, through migration, often have special bonds with more than one state, and partly in response to intersecting citizenships linked to multi-level governance. Some of these developments are already becoming visible, such as the trend to increasingly detach voting rights from nationality. Other changes, such as those in response to the on-going migration and asylum crisis, remain to be seen. 6 The Special Issue on Nationality and International Law Having provided the overarching framework for the special issue, the (other) articles making up the special issue can be briefly introduced. Most articles are concerned with on-going developments and debates in public international law concerning nationality, and deal more particularly with questions of access to nationality (status) and deprivation of nationality, and protection mechanisms contingent on nationality. In the process, questions of how to address instrumental citizenship and dual nationality are also discussed. The current reality of multi-level governance, and the related intersecting levels of membership are particularly picked up in relation to EU citizenship. The growing prominence of the equality principle in these respects, and more particularly the constraints on state sovereignty by the prohibition of discrimination in relation to questions of acquisition and deprivation of nationality is a recurring theme throughout these articles. Another theme that features regularly in this special issue concerns the implications of the new reality of the mobile world, and the related multiplication of migration patterns, for one’s understanding of nationality and its implications in (international) law. 123