Die tibetische Exilregierung zwischen Tradition und Moderne Eine Untersuchung der Strukturen und Strategien der Dalai Lama-Regierung

Abstract

Tibetan exile politics is only a marginal topic in international politics. The 14th Dalai Lama, the religious and political head of the Tibetan people, is a well-known figure around the globe, however. Since his flight to India in 1959, he has been heading the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the present Tibetan government-in-exile, which has been set up in northern India. This exile government is not internationally recognised, although it claims to represent the Tibetan nation and territory. The central question examined by this paper is how the CTA has fostered its claims to be the sole representative of all Tibetans while in exile. Based on Yossi Shain’s theoretical framework on governments-in-exile and the author’s extensive fieldwork in India and Nepal, the paper shows that the CTA successfully combines traditional values and structures with the requirements of modern politics in order to mobilise national loyalty and international moral and operational support.