Diasporas as development partners for peace? The alliance between the Darfuri diaspora and the Save Darfur Coalition

There is increasing interest today in the relationship between diaspora groups and international development. As a stand-in for the domestic organisation in Keck and Sikkink's model of a 'transnational advocacy network', diasporas serve as important sources of legitimacy and first-hand knowledge to support the 'information politics' of host country ngos; in turn, diasporas gain access to policy making around development and conflict resolution. But these alliances present a complicated picture of power and agency with unevenness across actors. Using field research on the US-based ngo Save Darfur Coalition and its partnership with the Darfuri diaspora, I argue that a host country ngo must balance its relationships across numerous stakeholders, including the diaspora, as well as short and long-term development needs. In addition, the strength of the alliance across actors may be influenced by the status of the diaspora and the home and host country contexts.