Ethnic Interest Group Influence on U.S. Foreign Policy: The Armenian, Ukrainian, and Baltic Experiences

The past 25 years has witnessed a growing scholarly interest in the role of ethnic interest groups, or diasporas, in the conceptualization of America’s foreign policy. In particular, the demise of the Soviet Union has created a need for a more systematized look at the effect of post-Soviet immigrant-ethnic communities on America’s posture toward post-communist states. Of particular interest is mobilization of ethnic diasporas in the U.S. during periods of active conflict within their respective countries of origin. In this panel, experts compared and contrasted the experiences of three “classical” post-Soviet interest groups – Armenia, Ukraine, and the Baltics.