Migration instead of Aid? Remittances and Brain Circulation as Tools of Development

International migration and development are among the most often cited issues in contemporary scholarly and political discussions. Reduction of socioeconomic disparities through development of economically less developed countries or liberalization of workforce movement are positioned very high on the political agendas of particular countries, as well as on those of supranational and international organizations. Therefore, it is not surprising that relations between migration and development attract more and more attention not only from the scientific community but from other individuals and organizations as well. In a limited amount of space, this paper uncovers the impacts of international migration, above all of the phenomenaons of remittances and skilled migration on the development of both receiving and sending countries. The article discusses the challenge of whether international migration is a better development strategy than traditional development tools such as Official Development Assistance (ODA) and argues against some traditional migration myths. This article wants to contribute to the discussion in the Czech Republic on relations between international migration and development with an emphasis on developing countries. The article is structured as follows. The first part is a brief description of international migration theories with development aspects in mind. The second part deals with international migration in the contemporary global world, stressing quantification of migration flows with respect to the level of development. Finally, the third chapter summarizes the most important findings from specific domains of relations between international migration and development (particularly remittances and skilled migration)