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26 Brown J. World Aff. 7 (2019-2020)

handle is hein.journals/brownjwa26 and id is 1 raw text is: The Promises and Perils of Diaspora Mobilization Against Authoritarian Regimes DANA M. Moss TRANSNATIONAL SOCIAL MOVEMENTS PLAY A critical role in the fight against authoritarianism, and a growing field of diaspora studies shows that exiles, 6migr6s, emigrants, and refugees are especially well positioned to undermine dictatorships from abroad.' Given their cross-border ties, diasporas often mo- bilize against abuses taking place in their homelands, move aid to war zones and refugee camps, and fuel revolutionary social change.2 Exiles who gain the right to protest and lobby in their places of settlement can also become powerful players in international relations. Iraqi expatriate Ahmed Chalabi, who helped to justify the United States-led invasion of Iraq by fabricating evidence of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, is just one example of how influential exiles can be when exacting revenge on the autocrats who abused them.' My research on diaspora activism for the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings underscores why these activists' roles in world affairs warrant our attention.4 As I detail below, diaspora movements for the revolutions in Libya, Syria, and Ye- men lent their support to rebellion and relief, helping their compatriots combat censorship, violence, and isolation in the world's periphery. However, my research also reveals two major challenges that diaspora movements face in combatting authoritarianism from afar. The first challenge arises when diasporas lack geo- political support for their cause; the second arises when home-country regimes counter-mobilize against their opponents through transnational repression. As I explain below, both of these forces curtail voice after exit, in the words of renowned economist Albert Hirschman, by making transnational activism a DANA M. Moss is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh whose research on social movements has appeared in venues that include the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Social Problems, and Mobilization: An International Quarterly. Her forthcoming book, The Arab Spring Abroad, investigates how diaspora movements became transnational forces for rebellion and relief during the Libyan, Syrian, and Yemeni revolutions of 2011 and beyond. Copyright © 2019 by the Brown Journal of WorldAffairs FALL/WINTER 2019 - VOLUME XXVI, ISSUE I

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