Ask What You Can Do For Your (New) Country: How Host States Use Diasporas

Within recent years a new body of literature has emerged within international relations on transnationalism and foreign policy. This literature has thus far focused on the strategic relationship between home states and their ethnic lobbies abroad, often with regard to remittances to and politics in the home country. This book breaks new ground in that it develops a theory about when, how and for what reasons host states use diasporas and the ethnic lobbies they generate to advance foreign policy goals. Ask What You Can Do for Your (New) Country focuses on a previously unexamined phenomenon: how host governments utilize diasporas to advance their foreign policy agendas in mutually beneficial ways. As was demonstrated in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when Iraqi exiles testified that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, ethnic lobbies have been utilized strategically by the United States (and other countries) for the promotion of political objectives. Host states have even promoted the creation of such ethnic lobbies for this purpose. As Nadejda K Marinova shows, those who participate in such lobbies are of a particular subset of émigrés who are politically active, express a sustained vision for homeland politics, and who often have existing ties to political institutions within the host state. These groups then act as a link between the public and officials in their home state, and other (generally less politically active) members of the diaspora via a coordinated effort by the host state. She develops a theoretical model for determining the conditions under which a host state will decide to promote and utilize an ethnic lobby, and she tests it against eight cases, including the Bush Administration's use of the American Lebanese Cultural Union and the World Council for the Cedars Revolution in developing policy towards Lebanon and Syria, the Iraqi National Congress in endorsing the US invasion of Iraq, the Cuban-American Committee's cooperation with the Carter administration in attempting to normalize relations with Cuba, and the International Diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA) launched by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011 to promote economic development in a number of countries.

Table of Contents:
Abbreviations Acknowledgments Chapter 1 - Host States' Use of Diasporas: A Global Phenomenon Chapter 2 - The Literature Chapter 3 - A Definition, a Typology and a Theoretical Model of Host State Use of Diasporas Chapter 4 - A Historical Overview of Lebanese-American Political Organizations (1990s and 2000s) Chapter 5 - Lebanese-American Allies of the Bush Administration: The Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act (SALSRA) and UNSC Resolution 1559 Chapter 6 - The Bush Administration and Lebanon after May 2005: World Council for the Cedars Revolution (WCCR) and the International Lebanese Committee for UNSCR 1559 (ILC 1559) Chapter 7 - Contrasting Approaches Chapter 8 - The Iraqi National Congress' Promotion of the 2003 War Chapter 9 - The State Department's Novel Multi-Diaspora IdEA Initiative Chapter 10 - Syro-Lebanese Diaspora Entrepreneurs in Brazil Chapter 11 - Theocracies and Exiles: Tehran and the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) Chapter 12 - Conclusions: A Theoretical Model for Host State Use of Diasporas Globally Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Nadejda K Marinova is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wayne State University.

Review :
"Marinova's Ask What You Can Do For Your (New) Country breaks new ground and significantly advances our understanding of the symbiotic relationship between diaspora groups and the foreign policy machinery of the countries in which they reside. This is required reading for anyone grappling with the complex nature of contemporary transnational politics." --Peter Mandaville, Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University "Using carefully reasoned arguments, Nadejda Marinova convincingly demonstrates the crucial role that diaspora communities play in shaping and all too-often misguiding host states' foreign policies. Given the often negative, but always consequential, policy effects of these relationships, it is all the more surprising that this is the first systematic study of this important subject. This book deserves the attention of anyone seeking new insights into how foreign policies are made." --J. Ann Tickner, Author of A Feminist Voyage Through International Relations "Ask What You Can Do For Your (New) Country is a major work of scholarship. Marinova sets the standard, for years to come, with regard to the study of diaspora politics. Theory and evidence come together to explain how host states make use of diasporas for political purposes. Case material included ranges from Lebanese-American allies of the Bush 43 Administration to Syro-Lebanese diaspora entrepreneurs in Brazil. This book is required reading for anyone interested in diaspora issues and also greatly valuable in the study of identity-related politics in general." --Patrick James, Dornsife Dean's Professor of International Relations, USC "Marinova's book provides a theoretically sound and empirically rich account of an underexplored phenomenon in foreign policy analysis: how host-states utilize diasporas in a variety of ways to pursue their foreign policy goals. The book's excellent insights into the relationship between diasporas and governments in the US, the Middle East and Latin America will be of interest to both scholars and policy makers." --Maria Koinova, Reader in International Relations, University of Warwick