Description
As fighting broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan in September 2020, a parallel intensive war erupted on social media. Pro-Armenian and pro-Azerbaijani users shared information about the conflict, paid tribute to soldiers, amplified news, targeted international media, and pushed out hashtags like #StopAzerbaijaniAggression or #StopArmenianOccupation. These actions sought to mobilize international public opinion and influence policy. The 2020 Karabakh war was fought not just on the physical battlefield, but online, internationally and in different languages.
How do diasporas fight online during armed conflict in their homeland? I explore this question through interviews with over 100 diaspora Armenians and Azerbaijanis living in 10 nations around the world. I question their motivations for activism; strategies and methods of promoting the Armenian or Azerbaijani narrative; vision of the opponent; and perceived outcomes of their efforts. The interviews cover the period of the 2020 war itself and the following escalations until the end of 2023.
Besides investigating this case of diaspora mobilization, the study offers broader conclusions about social media and participatory warfare, and about the changing roles of diasporas in IR. I demonstrate how social media enables participatory war that is transnational, monologic, empowering and retaliatory, involving individual and networked tactics, and culturally and politically transformative. The online narrative war has new tactics, takes targets algorithms, and delivers new types of casualties. Diasporas, traditionally seen as international agents of lobbying, public diplomacy, and material assistance, become important and decentralized actors in global conflict infopolitics.
