ABSTRACT
This chapter describes and analyzes the rapid evolution in the relative size and magnitude of Philippine-style diaspora diplomacy or what we refer to as the Philippines’ “Weapon of Mass Dispersion” (WMD). It describes how international political affairs has evolved from one simply anchored on attracting trade, development diplomacy, mutual cooperation, and security alliances to the way temporary and permanent human movements are contributing and influencing real-world and real-time people-to-people and even country-to-country relations in the case of the Philippines, which has one of the largest diasporas overseas. It essentially illustrates the relative power of non-state actors in contemporary international politics: how they affect national and local development efforts.
