Over half the world lives under authoritarian regimes. For these people, the opportunity to engage in politics moves outside the state's borders. This book offers the first in-depth examination of the internal politics of transnational mobilisation. Studying Rwandans and Zimbabweans, it exposes the power, interests, and unexpected agendas animating diaspora politics.

Alexander Betts is Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs and Director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. He is author of Protection by Persuasion: International Cooperation in the Refugee Regime (2009) and Survival Migration: Failed Governance and the Crisis of Displacement (2013). His articles have been published in journals such as Foreign Affairs, Perspectives on Politics, Global Governance, Ethics and International Affairs, and the Journal of International Relations and Development. He has worked for UNHCR, and as a consultant to numerous international organisations. He is the Founding Director of the Humanitarian Innovation Project and has been honoured as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

1. The politics of animation; Part I. Zimbabwe: 2. The birth of the Zimbabwean diaspora; 3. Briefcase activists: death, afterlife, and performance; 4. Heroic humanitarians: a neglected contribution; Part II. Rwanda: 5. Opposing the RPF from abroad; 6. Constructing the statist diaspora; 7. Hijacked humanitarians: the campaign against cessation.