Diaspora and Soft Power

Abstract

C. Raja Mohan s 2003 editorial Indian diaspora and soft power was the first inspiration newline behind this study. Over the years the literature on this phenomenon has grown especially newline in context of India and its diaspora community is increasingly perceived as soft power newline tool in foreign policy making. But then there is an absence of uniformity in Indian newline policies towards diaspora in different host states. This study explored this idea in context newline of the Indian diaspora in the US, since the idea is most frequently associated with them. newline The study explores the functioning of the Indian American community as a soft power newline tool, and in this process argues, only the networking/strategic elites of the Indian newline American community exercise soft power. The networking/strategic elites exercise soft newline power in both the models defined by Nye based on the target audience. But the direct newline model involves direct interaction with the foreign policy makers, and foreign policy newline making is an exclusivist process and people associated with it operate like a close knit newline trust network. The study treats diaspora and soft power as dependent variables, as their newline effectiveness is dependent on multiple factors such as global system, domestic policies newline and the demographic composition of a diaspora community. newline There existed a lacuna in the academic documentation of this phenomenon, as diaspora newline communities are treated as culturally static homogenous units, leading to the conclusion newline that entire communities function as a soft power tool. But this is not the case. In the newline Indian American community the sub-identity factors are deeply engrained along with the newline class divide which makes it heterogeneous in varied ways. Further this community has newline evolved over a long period of time and comprises of several layers. This leaves an newline interesting area to be explored, as a community in which members have different levels newline of assimilation, integration and visibility, how they all are equal in exercising soft power newline