The Dynamics of Organizing a Diaspora: The Quest for Unity applies to all diasporas which want to organize on a transnational basis. The author has taken the Armenian Diaspora as an example to discuss the steps involved in organizing this nation’s scattered diasporas to form a worldwide organization as efficiently and effectively as possible. Therefore, the book has a universal application and it is not restricted to any ethnic diaspora organizational unification into one supra structure. The methods presented and discussed in this book apply to all ethnic groups of the world. To inject realism into the various templates presented in the book such as for formulating an ideology, for writing the constitution or the bylaws, it was necessary to take an ethnic group in order to show how they can tackle the underlying ideology in establishing a transnational organization. To be able to develop a nuanced understanding of the process of how efficiently and effectively to organize, it necessitated the use of a real world diaspora which has not yet organized on an international basis, especially to also show what they have been missing by staying fragmented, hodgepodge diasporas throughout the world. It is worth noting that the book is based on four main objectives: 1. To inspire and motivate the reader to participate in the unity undertaking by showing what has been done by other nations 2. To provide the organizing committee with information, methods, strategies to facilitate their Herculean task of organizing a scattered diasporas of a nation 3. To propose templates and detailed examples of formulating the ideology, the constitution, the bylaws, registering the supra structure, providing democratic electoral procedures, recommendations for cost-efficient democratic elections, stepwise analysis of the electoral process all are presented in an organized fashion to engender the newly born supra structure to get on its feet 4. To design the book creatively and professionally in order to serve as an ambassador of the organizing committee for enlisting cooperation. Like most nationalities, all Armenians are for unity. They breathe unity! They pontificate about unity! For most of them unity is an attitude, though, a positive position to hold and express it when the opportunity presents itself in a social setting. However, that attitude is not motivated enough to translate into behavior of getting off their butts and doing something about it as expeditiously as possible. Therefore, it is crucial that they need to be inspired and highly motivated in the realization of the Armenian unity dream. Although related, there is a difference between need and motivation. A need is a gap, something missing or lacking in the individual or in an object. Motivation is a state of tension. Without a solution to the need, the tension, the stress remains. For many Armenians their need for unity is “dormant,” it has not been turned into a tension, i.e., motivation to seek a solution in order to get rid of that tension or stress. Let us all bear in mind the scientific reality about the relationship of an individual’s attitude to behavior. Over seventy odd years of research in the psychology branch of “Attitude Formation and Attitude Change” it has been established that there is a weak link between attitude and behavior. In other words, attitude does not indicate or predict behavior unless the individual is highly motivated to take action (i.e., to engage in a behavior consonant with the attitude as an antecedent to realize, to practice that attitude). Hence, manifestly, motivating Armenians or any other ethnic people is as important as giving them the tools, the methods, the strategies to organize. I hope this book fills that gap and gives the Armenian and other internationally unorganized diasporas the critical mass for leverage. Andrew Demirdjian
