The Armenian Diaspora Influencing International Relations

Sammanfattning: This thesis explores the Armenian diaspora’s behavior concerning the issue of recognition of the Armenian genocide through lobbying within the US and EU. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to grasp a deepened understanding of diasporic lobbying, while focusing on the Armenian case, as a case enabling further scholarly deepening for the field of IR. In order to achieve an understanding of the Armenian diaspora, the appropriated behavior through lobbying and the trajectorial changes concerning the recognition of the Armenian genocide, the paper puts forward historical process tracing, comparative research and qualitative content analysis. These methods are utilized as a means for tracing the events contributing to the construction of the diaspora. They also establish the lobby’s influence on ‘host-states’ and the understanding of internalized norms granting policy changes for the cause of recognizing the Armenian genocide, this is done through the concepts of identity, norms and recognition.