ABSTRACT
This chapter examines DO-insurgent relations in civil war contexts. It reconceptualizes the terrain of domestic armed conflicts as inclusive of diaspora countries of residence and examines the variable and dynamic opportunities for mobilizing a support base in such spaces. It also disaggregates diaspora to allow for analysis of DO diversity and identifies four different types of such organizations. Drawing on the case of the US-based diaspora’s connection to the Irish Republican movement during Northern Ireland’s “Troubles,” it compares DO effectiveness in achieving goals in adverse circumstances. It examines two different organizations along four dimensions: mission, autonomy, strategy, and network-building approach. The chapter draws on social movement frameworks and civil wars scholarship, as well as social network analysis to examine how DOs cultivate and sustain informal networks that may advance or even undermine their aims.
