This article explores how countries define who belongs in "their" diaspora and who is excluded from it. By comparing Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the article shows how states use diaspora-oriented policies, discourses, and practices to reinforce their own sense of identity, often excluding certain groups and individuals abroad based on their ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs. While diaspora engagement is usually seen positively – as building bridges between countries and their overseas communities – the article highlights that it can also have negative aspects, including the marginalization, securitization, and even persecution of emigrants and co-ethnics abroad. This dynamic is particularly evident in divided societies like Israel and Turkey, where domestic conflicts and identity struggles may be exported abroad, shaping the treatment of diasporic populations.

In his new article, Jonathan Grossman sheds light on how states strategically shape their relationships with their diasporas, demonstrating how exclusionary policies and identity politics extend beyond national borders to influence emigrants and co-ethnics abroad.
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