Whither the boomerang? Assessing the influence of diaspora on state support to foreign nonviolent resistance campaigns

Mass nonviolent campaign onset can move diaspora communities around the globe to action. Alongside offering direct support, diaspora pressure their host governments to adopt policies compatible with activists’ objectives. This article uses a newly released global dataset to explore the degree to which diaspora pressure translates into state action. The results of an analysis applying Item Response Theory indicate that diaspora positively influence state willingness to offer public displays of support, but not material assistance such as imposing sanctions or offering funds. This finding holds for democracies and non-democracies, underscoring the headwinds diaspora face in enabling campaign success from abroad.