The highly motivated Koreans and Vietnamese toiling hard to become prosperous in bustling Los Angeles, the haggard Palestinians living in dreary refugee camps near Beirut and Amman, the beleaguered Turks dwelling in cramped apartments in Berlin, and the frustrated Russians in Estonia all have much in common. All of them, along with Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Africans, African-Americans, Jews, Palestinians, Greeks, Gypsies, Romanians, Poles, Kurds, Armenians, and numerous other groups permanently residing outside of their countries of origin, but maintaining contacts with people back in their old homelands, are members of ethno-national diasporas.

Until the late twentieth century, wherever possible, and particularly when physical appearance, basic mores, innate habits, and linguistic proficiency permitted, many members of such groups tried hard to conceal their ethno-national origins. Furthermore, they were inclined to minimize the importance of their contacts with their countries of origin (usually, and hereafter, termed homelands), and they did not publicize their membership in organizations serving their groups and their homelands. Such patterns of behavior were related to a desire prevalent among members of such groups to assimilate, acculturate, or at least integrate into their countries of settlement (usually, and hereafter, referred to as host countries).

In tandem, whether deliberately or by default, both democratic and non-democratic host societies and governments largely ignored most of these ethno-national diaspora groups.