Transnational Advocacy in Self-Determination Conflicts: A Conceptual Overview

Whether they call themselves solidarity movements, pressure groups, lobby organizations, or advocacy coalitions: international civil society activists have become an unmissable feature of conflicts about identity, territory, and statehood. Protest rallies with local activists waving seemingly obscure national flags, be it from Western Sahara, Kurdistan, or West Papua, are commonplace in many metropoles, even more so in university towns. While having a transnational character forming far-reaching networks that involve diverse organizations and even individuals, such actors are usually operating from outside of conflict zones. Such coalitions often involve diaspora organizations but are not necessarily congruent with them. Still, they tend to side unequivocally with one particular conflict party – more often than not the contender – and can thereby become crucial international allies for actors in self-determination conflicts. The normative debates about international responsibility or intervention that shape our knowledge about such disputes are often induced, driven, and sustained by these very activists. Advocacy networks also provide self-determination movements with access to decision-makers, international forums, and the media and can thus secure their protégés more tangible benefits, such as humanitarian aid. Despite this ubiquity, we know little about the partisan involvement of international non-state actors in self-determination conflicts. What drives them? How do they interact with their counterparts? Which impact can these actions have on the courses and outcomes of conflicts? Following my previous investigations of civil society support for the secessionist de facto state of Biafra (published in 2023) and the secessionist rebels in Bougainville (upcoming), I now attempt to develop a broader concept that can help grasp both the agency of transnational advocacy in self-determination conflicts as well as the interaction between both sides. This work-in-progress endeavor takes cues from the emerging research program on patron-client relations, used here as a conceptual tool that enables me to zoom into supportive relationships between drastically different actors. The paper is supposed to be a contribution to an upcoming volume on patronage in world politics. It seeks to fuse various relevant literatures and illustrate its conceptual claims with empirical snapshots from a wide range of contemporary and historical cases. By shedding light on this neglected phenomenon, the article contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the international dimensions of self-determination conflicts.