Self-Determination Diplomacy and the Solidarity Universe

In recent months, movements for solidarity with oppressed minorities have dominated university campuses, town squares, and comment sections around the globe. From Toronto to Nairobi, protesters have rallied against genocide in Gaza, demanded freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, and called for decolonization in Western Sahara. As early as 1992, Alexis Heraclides referred to this phenomenon as the 'solidarity universe': coalitions of NGOs, pressure groups, aid agencies, journalists, academics, and other civil society actors united in advocating for the self-determination of ethnic and cultural groups. Recent scholarly work highlights how these solidarity movements are strategically embedded in the international outreach efforts of self‑determination movements. In this paper, I argue that the initiation, cultivation, and management of international advocacy are crucial elements of self determination diplomacy. Advocacy engagement is an adaptation strategy. Self determination movements are frequently excluded from traditional face to face diplomacy. Their diplomats confront these obstacles pragmatically. Diplomacy is what self-determination movements make of it. By enlisting international non-state allies, self-determination diplomats seek to sidestep the barriers that prevent them from participating in state diplomacy. International advocates can generate publicity, amplify normative claims, broker access, provide expertise, and mobilize public pressure, thereby influencing the policies of third states indirectly. The paper brings together conceptual cues from the literature and then sketches the contours of a concept of advocacy engagement by self-determination movements. Brief empirical vignettes drawn from multiple cases serve to illustrate and substantiate these claims.