The Somali Diaspora and Norwegian Foreign Policy

Abstract

The role of diaspora and ethnic groups, and the factors that facilitate or hinder their attempts to influence foreign policy, have received extensive scholarly attention among political scientists in the US for several decades. However, the theoretical arguments are largely based on state-centric perspectives where diaspora groups are regarded as autonomous and unitary actors in their pursuit for influence within the borders of one state. These assumptions are challenged by the theoretical advancement made in literature on transnational migration, introduced by social anthropologists in the 1990s, which is based on a vast empirical knowledge about the transnational political engagement of diaspora communities. Informed by this literature, I attempt to further develop the theoretical propositions concerning factors that enable diaspora groups to play a powerful role in the making of foreign policy. In order to contribute to the existing literature on diaspora groups and foreign policy, this thesis examines the role of the Somalia diaspora in its attempts to influence Norwegian foreign policy. Informed by the empirical investigation, this thesis argues that the standard concepts of diaspora groups and foreign policy in the literature need to be further developed to include the transnational perspectives, feedback loops between state actors and diaspora groups, and the heterogeneity of diaspora communities. This indicates that there are clear benefits to be gained from analysing the political scientific literature on diaspora groups and foreign policy together with insights from transnational migration research.