ABSTRACT
The concept of “diaspora diplomacy” bridges diaspora studies and diplomacy studies by examining the relationships that diasporas have with states and other diplomatic actors, thus impacting diplomacy. Diasporas can be brought into diplomacy as addressee or participant and, in the process, shape the conduct of diplomacy. Diaspora diplomacy thus directs researchers to reconsider the distinction between domestic and foreign policy, and the territorial dimensions of both diaspora and diplomacy. Drawing on Edward Said’s approach of “contrapuntal reading”, this chapter brings together two examples of how diaspora diplomacy is manifested in Myanmar, namely focusing on the diplomatic actions of two ethnic minority groups—the Burmese-Chinese (in relation to the “Chinese diaspora”) and the Kachin people (in relation to the “Kachin diaspora”). We use these examples to engage with L.H.M. Ling’s arguments on the “multiple worlds” that make up world politics, arguing, however, that this perspective of international relations needs to decentre sovereign states to also bring into view sub-national actors that engage in diplomatic action with other nation-states and international actors. This chapter thus extends conceptualisation of diaspora diplomacy by considering how diaspora diplomacy brings “multiple worlds” together through scale-spanning assemblages that complicate the territorial assumptions of diplomacy.
