Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T10:17:25.408Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diasporas and International Relations Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2003

Yossi Shain  and
Aharon Barth
Get access

Abstract

In this article, we incorporate the study of diasporas into international relations (IR) theory by focusing on diasporas as independent actors who actively influence their homeland (kin-state) foreign policies. We argue that diasporic influences can best be understood by situating them in the ‘theoretical space’ shared by constructivism and liberalism; two approaches that acknowledge the impact of identity and domestic politics on international behavior. We also maintain that the exploration of diasporic activities can enrich both constructivism and liberalism. First, diasporas' identity-based motivations should be an integral part of the constructivist effort to explain the formation of national identities. Second, diasporic activities and influences in their homelands expand the meaning of the term ‘domestic politics’ to include not only politics inside the state but also inside the people For the liberal approach, this is a “new fact” in the Lakatosian sense of the word. We theorize that the extent of diasporic influence on homeland foreign policy is determined by three components that make up the ‘balance of power’ between homelands and diasporas. We then test this theory by delving into the interaction between the newly established state of Armenia and its powerful diaspora, and by comparing this case with examples taken from the relations between Israel and diaspora Jews.

Type
Articles
Information
International Organization , Volume 57 , Issue 3 , Summer 2003 , pp. 449 - 479
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adler, Emanuel. 1997. Seizing the Middle Ground: Constructivism and World Politics. European Journal of International Relations 3 (3):319–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Al-Ali, Nadje, Black, Richard, and Koser, Khalid. 2001. The Limits to ‘Transnationalism’: Bosnian and Eritrean Refugees in Europe as Emerging Transnational Communities. Ethnic and Racial Studies 24 (4):578–600CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amstrong, John A. 1976. Mobilized and Proletarian Diasporas. American Political Science Review 20 (2):393–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Astourian, Stephen H. 2000/2001. From Ter-Petrosian to Kocharian: Leadership Change in Armenia. Working Paper. Berkeley, Calif.: Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies.Google Scholar
Basch, Linda, Schiller, Nina Glick, and Blanc, Cristina Szanton. 1994. Nations Unbound. Transnational Projects, Postcolonial Predicaments, and Deterritorialized Nation States. Longhorne, Penn.: Gordon and Breach.Google Scholar
Beilin, Yossi. 2000. His Brother's Keeper Israel and Diaspora Jewry in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Schocken Books.Google Scholar
Ben-Zvi, Abraham. 1998. Decade of Transition Eisenhower, Kennedy, and the Origins of the American-Israeli Alliance New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Bloom, William. 1990. Personal Identity, National Identity, and International Relations. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Checkel, Jeffrey. 1998. The Constructivist Turn in International Relations Theory. World Politics 50 (2):324–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clifford, James. 1992. Traveling Cultures. In Cultural Studies, edited by Grossberg, Lawrence, Nelson, Cary, and Treichler, Paula A., 96–116. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Clough, Michael. 1994. Grass-Roots Policymaking: Say Good-Bye to the ‘Wise Men’. Foreign Affairs 73 (1):2–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Robin. 1997. Global Diasporas: An Introduction. Seattle: University of Washington Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collier, Paul, and Hoeffler, Anke. 2000. Greed and Grievances in Civil War. Policy Research Working Paper 2355 Washington, D.C.: World Bank.Google Scholar
Connor, Walker. 1986. The Impact of Homelands upon Diasporas. In Modern Diasporas in International Politics, edited by Sheffer, Gabriel, 16–46. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Crawford, Beverly. 1996. Explaining Defection from International Cooperation: Germany's Unilateral Recognition of Croatia. World Politics 48 (4):482–521.Google Scholar
DeSipio, Louis. 2000. Sending Money Home: For Now Remittances and Immigrant Adaptation in the United States. Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Dialogue.Google Scholar
Doty, Roxanne. 1996. Sovereignty and the Nation: Constructing the Boundaries of National Identity. In State Sovereignty as Social Construct, edited by Bierstecker, Thomas J. and Weber, Cynthia, 121–47. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Esman, Milton J 1986 Diasporas and International Relations. In Modern Diasporas in International Politics, edited by Sheffer, Gabriel, 333–49. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Evangelista, Matthew. 1997. Domestic Structure and International Change. In New Thinking in International Relations Theory, edited by Doyle, Michael and Ikenberry, John, 202–28. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Finnemore, Martha. 1996. National Interests in International Society. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freinkman, Lev M. 2001. Role of the Diasporas in Transition Economies: Lessons from Armenia. Paper presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, August, Coral Gables, Fla.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Kate, Sayre, Edward, and Riddle, Liesel. 2001. Palestinian Interest in Homeland Investment. The Middle East Journal 55 (2):237–55.Google Scholar
Gunawardena, Sue. 1999. From British Sikhs to British Panjabis: the Reconstruction of Diaspora in Sikh Identity and Homeland Politics. Unpublished manuscript, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Hopf, Ted. 1998. The Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory. International Security 22 (1):171–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. 1996. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. 1997. The Erosion of American National Interests. Foreign Affairs 76 (5):28–49.Google Scholar
Iwánska, Alicja. 1981. Exiled Governments Spanish and Polish An Essay in Political Sociology. Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman.Google Scholar
Jepperson, Ronald L., Wendt, Alexander, and Katzenstein, Peter J.. 1996. Norms, Identity, and the Culture of National Security. In The Culture of National Security Norms and Identity in World Politics, edited by Katzenstein, Peter J., 33–75. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Katzenstein, Peter J. 1996. Introduction: Alternative Perspectives on National Security. In The Culture of National Security Norms and Identity in World Politics, edited by Katzenstein, Peter J., 1–32. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
King, Charles, and Melvin, Neil J.. 1999/2000 Diaspora Politics: Ethnic Linkages, Foreign Policy, and Security in Eurasia. International Security 24 (3):108–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koslowsky, Rey. 1999. International Migration and the Globalization of Domestic Politics A Conceptual Framework. Unpublished manuscript, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.Google Scholar
Kotkin, Joel. 1992. Tribes How Race, Religion and Identity Determine Success in the New Global Era. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Kowert, Paul A., and Legro, Jeffrey W.. 1996. Norms, Identity, and their Limits: A Theoretical Reprise. In The Culture of National Security Norms and Identity in World Politics, edited by Katzenstein, Peter J., 451–97. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Kurz, Anat, and Merari, Ariel. 1985. ASALA Irrational Terror or Political Tool. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Lapid, Yosef. 1996. Culture's Ship: Returns and Departures in International Relations Theory. In The Return of Culture and Identity in International Relations Theory, edited by Lapid, Yosef and Kratochwil, Friedrich, 3–20. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Libaridian, Gerard J. 1998. Armenian Forum: The New Thinking Revisited. Available from ⟨http://www.gomidas.org/forum/af2c⟩. Accessed 2 April 2003.Google Scholar
Libaridian, Gerard J. 1999. The Challenge of Statehood. Armenian Political Thinking Since Independence. Watertown, Mass.: Blue Crane Books.Google Scholar
Lindsay, James M. 2002. Getting Uncle Sam's Ear: Will Ethnic Lobbies Cramp America's Foreign Policy Style. Brookings Review 20 (1):37–40.Google Scholar
Mandelbaum, Michael, ed. 2000. The New European Diasporas: National Minorities and Conflict in Eastern Europe. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press.Google Scholar
Milner, Helen V. 1997. Interests, Institutions, and Information Domestic Politics and International Relations. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Moravcsik, Andrew. 1997. Taking Preferences Seriously A Liberal Theory of International Politics. International Organization 51 (4):513–53.Google Scholar
Naim, Moises. 2002. The New Diaspora. Foreign Policy 131:95–96.Google Scholar
Ogelman, Nedim, Money, Jeannette, and Martin, Philip L.. 2002. Immigrant Cohesion and Political Access in Influencing Host Country Foreign Policy. SAIS Review 22 (2):145–65.Google Scholar
Østergaard-Nielsen, Eva. 2000. From Remittance Machines to Euro-Turks: Ankara's Changing Perceptions of Citizens Abroad. Paper presented at the LSE Workshop on ‘Perceptions and Policies of Sending Countries,’ July, London School of Economics.Google Scholar
Panossian, Razmik. 1998. Between Ambivalence and Intrusion: Politics and Identity in Armenia Diaspora Relations. Diaspora 7 (2):149–96.Google Scholar
Portes, Alejandro. 1999. Conclusion: Towards a New World—The Origins and Effects of Transnational Activities. Ethnic and Racial Studies 22 (2):463–77.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert. 1988. Diplomacy and Domestic Politics: The Logic of Two-Level Games. International Organization 42 (3):427–60.Google Scholar
Pye, Lucian L. 1985. Asian Power and Politics. The Cultural Dimensions of Authority. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Corporation, RAND. 2001. Trends in Outside Support for Insurgent Movement. Santa Monica, Calif: RAND.Google Scholar
Risse-Kappen, Thomas. 1996. Collective Identity in a Democratic Community: The Case of NATO. In The Culture of National Security Norms and Identity in World Politics, edited by Katzenstein, Peter J., 357–99 New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, Steven T. 2001. Irreconcilable Differences The Waning of the American Jewish Love Affair with Israel. Hanover, N.H.: Brandeis University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roshwald, Aviel. 2001. Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, Russia and the Middle East, 1914–1923. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Safran, William. 1991. Diasporas in Modern Societies: Myths of Homeland and Return. Diaspora 1 (1):83–99.Google Scholar
Saideman, Stephen M. 2001. The Ties That Divide Ethnic Politics, Foreign Policy, and International Politics. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi. 1989. The Frontier of Loyalty Political Exiles in the Age of the Nation-State. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press.Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi., ed. 1991 Governments-in-Exile in Contemporary World Politics. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi. 1993. Democrats and Secessionists: U.S. Diasporas as Regime Destabilizers. In International Migration and Security, edited by Weiner, Myron, 287–322. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi. 1994. Marketing the American Creed Abroad: U.S. Diasporas in the Age of Multiculturalism. Diaspora 4 (1):85–111.Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi. 1994/1995. Ethnic Diasporas and U.S. Foreign Policy. Political Science Quarterly 109 (5):811–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shain, Yossi. 1995. Multicultural Foreign Policy. Foreign Policy 100:69–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shain, Yossi. 1999. Marketing the American Creed Abroad Diasporas in the US and Their Homelands. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi. 1999/2000. The Mexican-American Diaspora's Impact on Mexico. Political Science Quarterly 114(4):661–91.Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi. 2000. American Jews and the Construction of Israel's Jewish Identity. Diaspora 9 (2):163–201.Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi. 2002. The Role of Diasporas in Conflict Perpetuation or Resolution. SAIS Review 22 (2):115–144Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi, and Bristman, Barry. 2002a. Diaspora, Kinship, and Loyalty: The Renewal of Jewish National Security. International Affairs 78 (1):69–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shain, Yossi, and Bristman, Barry. 2002b. The Jewish Security Dilemma. Orbis 46 (1):47–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shain, Yossi, and Sherman, Martin. 1998. Dynamics of Disintegration: Diaspora, Secession and the Paradox of Nation-States Nations and Nationalism 4 (3):321–46.Google Scholar
Shain, Yossi, and Sherman, Martin. 2001. Diasporic Transnational Financial Flows and Their Impact on National Identity. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 7 (4):1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shain, Yossi, and Wittes, Tamara. 2002. Peace as a Three-Level Game: The Role of Diaspora in Conflict Resolution In Ethnicity and U S Foreign Policy, edited by Ambrosio, Thomas, 169–97. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.Google Scholar
Sheffer, Gabriel, ed. 1986. Modern Diasporas in International Politics. New York: St. Martin's Press.Google Scholar
Sheffer, Gabriel, ed. 1994 Ethno-National Diasporas and Security. Survival 36 (1):60–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simonian, Hovann. 2001. The Armenian Diaspora Gets its Second Wind. Available at ⟨http://www.tol.cz⟩. Accessed 20 January 2001.Google Scholar
Smith, Tony 1993. In Defense of Intervention. Foreign Affairs 73 (6):34–46.Google Scholar
Smith, Tony. 2000 Foreign Attachments The Power of Ethnic Groups in the Making of American Foreign Policy. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Suny, Ronald. 1999/2000. Provisional Stabilities. The Politics of Identities in Post-Soviet Eurasia. International Security 24 (3):139–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Susser, Leslie. 1997. Special Publication of the American Jewish Committee. 26 November. (Translated from Hebrew). Jerusalem: American Jewish Committee.Google Scholar
Tololyan, Khachig. 1987. Cultural Narrative and the Motivation of the Terrorist. Journal of Strategic Studies 10 (4):217–33.Google Scholar
Tololyan, Khachig. 1991 Exile Governments in the Armenian Polity. In Governments-in-Exile in Contemporary World Politics, edited by Shain, Yossi, 166–87. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Weibe, Robert H. 2002. Who We Are: A History of Popular Nationalism. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Weil, Martin. 1974. Can the Blacks Do for Africa What the Jews Did for Israel? Foreign Policy 15:109–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiner, Myron, ed. 1993. International Migration and Security. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Weiner, Myron, ed. 1995. The Global Migration Crisis Challenges to State and to Human Rights. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Weiner, Myron, and Teitelbaum, Michael S.. 2001. Political Demography, Demographic Engineering. New York: Berghahn Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wendt, Alexander E. 1994. Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics. In International Organization: A Reader, edited by Kratochwil, Friedrich and Mansfield, Edward D., 77–94. New York: HarperCollins.Google Scholar
Wendt, Alexander E. 1999. Social Theory of International Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodward, Susan L. 2000. Diaspora, or the Dangers of Disunification? Putting the “Serbian Model” into Perspective. In The New European Diasporas. National Minorities and Conflict in Eastern Europe, edited by Mandelbaum, Michael, 159–213. New York: Council of Foreign Relations Press.Google Scholar
Zvelev, Igor. 2000. Russia and Its New Diasporas. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.Google Scholar