Four Types of Diaspora Mobilization: Albanian Diaspora Activism for Kosovo Independence in the U.S. and the UK
This comparative study explores the conditions and causal pathways through which conflict-generated diasporas become moderate or radical actors when linked to homelands experiencing limited sovereignty.
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Maria Koinova, Visiting Research Scholar, Center for European Studies, Harvard University and Assistant Professor, University of Amsterdam
This comparative study explores the conditions and causal pathways through which conflict-generated diasporas become moderate or radical actors when linked to homelands experiencing limited sovereignty. Situated at the nexus of scholarship on diasporas and conflict, ethnic lobbying in foreign policy, and transnationalism this article develops four types of diaspora political mobilization – radical (strong and weak) and moderate (strong and weak) – and unpacks the causal pathways that lead to these four types in different political contexts. I argue that dynamics in the original homeland drive the overall trend towards radicalism or moderation of diaspora mobilization in a host-land: high levels of violence are associated with radicalism, and low levels with moderation. Nevertheless, how diaspora mobilization takes place is a result of the conjuncture of the level of violence with two other variables: diaspora linkages to a strategic center in the homeland, and accessibility of a strategic center to influence host-state support for the sovereignty goal. The article uses observations from the Albanian diaspora mobilization in the US and the UK prior to Kosovo's 2008 proclaimed independence, and from periods of contested sovereignty prior to and in the aftermath of NATO's 1999 military intervention in Kosovo.
This event will take place in the 6th floor boardroom.
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Global Europe Program
The Global Europe Program is focused on Europe’s capabilities, and how it engages on critical global issues. We investigate European approaches to critical global issues. We examine Europe’s relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our initiatives include “Ukraine in Europe” – an examination of what it will take to make Ukraine’s European future a reality. But we also examine the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE, Europe’s energy security, transatlantic trade disputes, and challenges to democracy. The Global Europe Program’s staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media. Read more
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