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102. Sri Lanka: Political forces at a glance
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Country Data and Maps
- Institution:
- Economist Intelligence Unit
- Abstract:
- No abstract is available.
- Topic:
- Politics, Summary, Background, and Political forces at a glance
- Political Geography:
- Sri Lanka
103. Preventing Atrocities in a State Unwilling to Address Its Past: The Role of Civilians and Civil Society in Sri Lanka
- Author:
- Anushani Alagarajah, Dharsha Jegatheeswaran, and Laxana Paskaran
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Abstract:
- This paper studies the role of civilians and civil society in preventing and mitigating atrocities in Sri Lanka. The first case study is set during Sri Lanka’s civil war, specifically during the breakdown of the ceasefire between 2005 and 2008, when there were significant constraints on civil society and civilians and a very high risk of atrocities. The second case study is set in the post-2015 period, a time when there was a new coalition government that pledged to work toward reconciliation, and when, as a result, constraints on civilians and civil society were much lower and the risk of atrocities was also reduced. Both case studies consider the risk of atrocities centered on interethnic conflict, though the first case study looks at the long-standing armed conflict between the Sri Lankan state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), while the second looks at intercommunal violence directed at the Muslim minority community in the post-war context.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Civil War, Minorities, Violence, Civilians, and Atrocity Prevention
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and Sri Lanka
104. May/June 2019 Issue
- Author:
- Amarnath Amarasingam, Brian Michael Jenkins, Paul Cruickshank, Mitchell D. Silber, Haroro J. Ingram, Craig Whiteside, and Charlie Winter
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- CTC Sentinel
- Institution:
- The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
- Abstract:
- The Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka took the terrorism studies community by surprise because there had been no known history of jihadi violence inside the country and very little to indicate that local groups had the wherewithal to carry out such a large-scale coordinated operation. There is much that remains unclear about the links between the Sri Lankan cell and the Islamic State, but nearly 18 years after 9/11, the suicide bombings were a reminder that clandestine terrorist groups can, at any moment, strike in unexpected places and ways. In our cover article, Amarnath Amarasingam, whose research has focused on both Sri Lanka and global terrorism, outlines what is known about the network that carried out the Easter attacks and situates the attacks in the broader context of evolving intercommunal tensions in the country. Brian Michael Jenkins examines the options for dealing with the significant numbers of Islamic State foreign fighters currently detained in Syria, warning that “endless delay” risks creating a serious threat to international security. Our interview is with Vidhya Ramalingam, the co-founder of Moonshot CVE, a company using technology to disrupt and counter violent extremism globally. Mitchell Silber examines how the terrorist threat against Jews in the West has evolved by examining attacks between 2012 and the present day. He notes that “what may be the most striking findings from this case study analysis are that first, Europe has become the focal point of the jihadi terror threat to Jews in the West and second, the United States has become a new, emerging focal point of the extreme right-wing terror threat to Jews in the West.” Last month, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared for the first time on camera since the Islamic State heralded its ‘caliphate’ in Mosul’s al-Nuri mosque five years ago. Haroro Ingram, Craig Whiteside, and Charlie Winter explain how the video underlined the group’s strategic transformation with the Islamic State’s leader now portraying himself as “the guerrilla ‘caliph’ of a global insurgency.”
- Topic:
- Terrorism, Counter-terrorism, Islamic State, Judaism, and Foreign Fighters
- Political Geography:
- Europe, South Asia, Middle East, Sri Lanka, Syria, and United States of America
105. The Belt and Road Initiative Still Afloat in South Asia
- Author:
- Sudha Ramachandran
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- China Brief
- Institution:
- The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- South Asian governments are becoming increasingly discontent with Belt and Road Initiative projects. In August, Pakistan’s new government expressed interest in reviewing the CPEC contracts that they perceive to be over-priced, unnecessary, or excessively in the favor of PRC companies (Dawn, September 11). Similar sentiments have been expressed by the new Maldivian government, which is reviewing BRI contracts signed during the rule of former President Abdulla Yameen (Economic Times, November 26). Such actions raise questions as to whether South Asian states might scale down or even cancel BRI projects.
- Topic:
- Development, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, Infrastructure, and Soft Power
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives
106. Issues and Challenges of Peace Building in South Asia
- Author:
- Syed Shahbaz Hussain, Ghulam Mustafa, Robina Khan, and Muhammad Azhar
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- South Asian Studies
- Institution:
- Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
- Abstract:
- Peace building is the rehearsal of developing policies that strengthen the peace and re-establish order through social, political and economic reforms. Peace building has shifted its state-centric approach to regional focused agendas for more than a decade.South Asia is a diverse region with a unique geo-strategic significance, socio-political subtleties, and economic diversities. It faces distinct traditional and non-traditional challenges in the process of peace building. South Asia – the home to one third global population faces immense challenges due to weak state structure. The long and persistent influence of external powers in decision making process in South Asia has impacted the political evolution of the states included in the said region. The lack of fundamental necessities has increased the level of frustration and the sense of deprivation, which provides a fertile ground for the prospect of conflicts. The region is often labelled as one of the most dangerous regions on earth due to growing intolerance, extremism, terrorism, insurgencies and rise of various nuclear powers in South Asia. Kenneth Waltz claimed that the anarchic international system is a power that shapes the states behaviour, as the structure of the anarchic system compels states to adopt certain policies. In this exploratory research, an effort has been made to explore and analyze that how anarchic international structure influences and affects the peace building process in South Asia.
- Topic:
- Peace Studies, Insurgency, Peacekeeping, Conflict, and State
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Punjab, Bhutan, Maldives, and Indian Ocean
107. Research Workshop on the Role of Civilians in Preventing and Mitigating Mass Atrocities
- Author:
- Jamie Wise
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Abstract:
- On June 13-14, 2019, the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum convened a workshop with case study research partners and other scholars to discuss the Center’s ongoing project on the role of civilians in preventing and mitigating mass atrocities. This rapporteur’s report summarizes major observations raised on the first day of the workshop, during which all participants made contributions.
- Topic:
- Humanitarian Aid, Civilians, Donors, and Atrocity Prevention
- Political Geography:
- Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Global Focus
108. REDUCING PRESS ATTENTION TO REDUCE TERRORISM?
- Author:
- Crystal Shelton, Erik Cleven, and Aaron Hoffman
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Political Violence @ A Glance
- Abstract:
- The Easter morning attack in Sri Lanka reminds us that, when it comes to terrorism, governments often want to reduce the amount of media attention attackers receive. This is why the Sri Lankan government initially withheld the names of the attackers who killed nearly 300 and injured many more. The desire to deny perpetrators publicity is also why New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden publicly refused to utter the name of the gunman who killed fifty people attending mosques in Christchurch. A similar impulse can be seen in US President Barack Obama’s attempt to downplay the threat from ISIS by calling them the “jayvee team.” But can governments actually discourage terrorism by influencing the mass media’s attention? Our research suggests the answer is not much, although we do not address the efficacy of these policies specifically. Nevertheless, we have a potentially useful way of thinking about the promise of counterterrorism policies that influence media attention.
- Topic:
- Terrorism, Media, Islamic State, and News Analysis
- Political Geography:
- Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and United States of America
109. Poverty, institutions and environmental degradation: Fishing commons governance and the livelihood of rural households amid mangrove deforestation in Puttalam, Sri Lanka
- Author:
- P. Perera and Risa Morimoto
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
- Abstract:
- Mangrove forests are critical to protecting our environment against the damaging impacts of climate change. While a third of global mangrove species are found in Sri Lanka, considerable mangrove deforestation has occurred over the last few decades, primarily due to the expansion of shrimp farming. This has degraded the mangrove ecosystem and led to the depletion of fish population, in turn affecting the livelihoods of local communities who depend predominantly on fishing for their survival. This study quantitatively analyses household survey data collected from local communities in and around the Puttalam lagoon, northwest Sri Lanka, to explore the institutions that are used for fishing commons governance (using Elinor Ostrom’s (1990) design principles as a theoretical underpinning) and their relation to poverty and environmental (and commons) degradation. The analysis finds that mangrove conservation is considered important regardless of poverty level and that poverty is related to greater institutional adherence. While adherence to the design principles leads to greater sustenance of the fishing commons, certain design principles are found to be more important than others. In this study, we found monitoring is the most important design principle.
- Topic:
- Environment, Poverty, Governance, Institutions, Rural, Fishing, and Deforestation
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Sri Lanka
110. Better Must Come: Citizenship and Belonging after Statelessness
- Author:
- Patrick Balazo
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Statelessness & Citizenship Review
- Institution:
- Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
- Abstract:
- In light of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee’s global #IBELONG Campaign to end statelessness by 2024, this paper examines the benefits of citizenship acquisition among Sri Lanka’s previously stateless Up-Country Tamil population. From 1948 until 2003, the Up-Country Tamil population was stateless and excluded from the Sri Lankan political process, though with the 2003 grant of citizenship Sri Lanka was celebrated as an example of what it means to successfully end statelessness. Using a liberal theory of citizenship extended by the Rancièrian concept of dissensus, and based on qualitative interviews and questionnaire surveys conducted in Sri Lanka between July and August 2016, this paper identifies potential shortcomings of citizenship acquisition that clash with the promise of the #IBELONG Campaign and the narrative of Sri Lanka’s success in ending statelessness: a rural rights deficit and a shared absence of belonging despite the acquisition of citizenship.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Cooperation, United Nations, and Stateless Population
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Sri Lanka