Politics of Conflict and Peace in Sri Lanka

Politics of Conflict and Peace in Sri Lanka PDF

Author: P. Sahadevan

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13:

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This book details the manner in which Sri Lanka has missed numerous opportunities to secure peace between its two principal ethnic communities and how the intractable ethnic conflict has placed the country in a dire state. It provides an institutionalist explanation to the conflict, examines the Sinhalese-Tamil divisions that were exacerbated due to linguistic nationalism, and evaluates the extent to which the island’s political structure encouraged ethnocentrism. It also makes clear how such ethnocentrism has contributed to illiberal democracy and political decay. Furthermore, the book analyzes how both military and political strategies have failed to end the ethnic war and provides a structural explanation for the LTTE’s resistance to accept a negotiated peace, which would require the group to step back from its stated goal of creating a separate state. India’s shifting policy vis-à-vis the conflict is also examined in the context of its contrasting responses and postures—intervention in the 1980s and non-intervention currently.

Post-war Dilemmas of Sri Lanka

Post-war Dilemmas of Sri Lanka PDF

Author: S. I. Keethaponcalan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-03-14

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 0429602251

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By investigating Sri Lanka as a case study, this book examines whether democracy, compared to authoritarianism, is conducive to post-war reconciliation. The research, founded on primary as well as secondary data, concludes that political systems have little to do with the success or failure of post-war ethnic reconciliation. The Sri Lankan case indicated that post-war reconciliation is more contingent on the readiness of the former enemies to come together. Readiness stems from, for example, satisfaction in the way issues have been resolved, confidence in the other party's intentions, and the compulsion to coexist. If the level of satisfaction, confidence, and the compulsion to coexist are low, the readiness to reconcile will also be low. The end of the war had a profound impact on post-war governance and ethnic relations in Sri Lanka. Hence, the volume provides an in-depth analysis of the factors that led to the military victory of the Sri Lankan government over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009. The chapters delve into the nexus between governance and reconciliation under the first two post-war governments. Reconciliation did not materialize in this period. Instead, new fault-lines emerged as attacks on the Muslim community escalated drastically. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the nature of relations between the Sinhalese and Muslims and the Tamils and Muslims, as well as the nature and causes of post-war anti-Muslim riots.

Liberal Peace In Question

Liberal Peace In Question PDF

Author: Kristian Stokke

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2011-01-01

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 0857286498

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The present book uses Sri Lanka’s failed attempt at negotiating peace with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, to examine the politics of state and market reforms towards liberal peace. Sri Lanka is seen as a critical case that demonstrates key characteristics and shortcomings of liberal peace, vividly demonstrated by internationally facilitated elite negotiations and donor-funded neoliberal development.

To End a Civil War

To End a Civil War PDF

Author: Mark Salter

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 566

ISBN-13: 1849045747

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Between 1983 and 2009 Sri Lanka was host to a bitter civil war fought between the Government and the Tamil Tigers, which sought the creation of an independent Tamil state. In May 2009 came the war's violent end with the crushing defeat of the Tamil Tigers at the hands of the Sri Lanka Army. But prior to this grim finale, for some time there had been hope for a peaceful end to the conflict. Beginning with a ceasefire agreement in early 2002, for almost five years a series of peace talks between the two sides took place in locations ranging from Thailand and Japan to Norway, Germany and Switzerland. To End a Civil War tells the story of trying to bring peace to Sri Lanka. In particular it tells the story of how a faraway European nation--Norway--came to play a central role in efforts to end the conflict, and what its small, dedicated team of mediators did in their untiring efforts to reach what ultimately proved the elusive goal of a negotiated peace. In doing so it fills a critical gap in our understanding of the Sri Lankan conflict. But it also illuminates in detail a much wider problem: the intense fragility that surrounds peace processes and the extraordinary lengths to which their proponents often stretch in order to secure their progress.

Conflict and Peacebuilding in Sri Lanka

Conflict and Peacebuilding in Sri Lanka PDF

Author: Jonathan Goodhand

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-12-14

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1136876278

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The period between 2001 and 2006 saw the rise and fall of an internationally supported effort to bring a protracted violent conflict in Sri Lanka to a peaceful resolution. A ceasefire agreement, signed in February 2002, was followed by six rounds of peace talks, but growing political violence, disagreements over core issues and a fragmentation of the constituencies of the key parties led to an eventual breakdown. In the wake of the failed peace process a new government pursued a highly effective ‘war for peace’ leading to the military defeat of the LTTE on the battlefields of the north east in May 2009. This book brings together a unique range of perspectives on this problematic and ultimately unsuccessful peace process. The contributions are based upon extensive field research and written by leading Sri Lankan and international researchers and practitioners. The framework of ‘liberal peacebuilding’ provides an analytical starting point for exploring the complex and unpredictable interactions between international and domestic players during the war-peace-war period. The lessons drawn from the Sri Lankan case have important implications in the context of wider debates on the ‘liberal peace’ and post conflict peacebuilding – particularly as these debates have largely been shaped by the ‘high profile’ cases such as Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. This book is of interest not only to Sri Lanka specialists but also to the wider policy/practitioner audience, and is a useful contribution to South Asian studies.

Building States, Building Peace

Building States, Building Peace PDF

Author: A. Sánchez-Cacicedo

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-02-25

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 1137274166

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Sánchez-Cacicedo provides a critique of liberal peacebuilding approaches and of international interventions in statebuilding processes, questioning how 'global' these initiatives are, using case studies from the Asian region including Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

Decolonising Peacebuilding

Decolonising Peacebuilding PDF

Author: Chamindra Weerawardhana

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2019-01-08

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1527524515

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Exploring the conflict management trajectories of Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka, this book engages in a discussion that highlights the importance of ‘decolonising’ approaches to peacebuilding and conflict management in deeply divided societies. Existing knowledge on the topic is largely produced in the Western academy, using global North-centric approaches. This book, written by a researcher from the global South who navigates the political life of a deeply divided society in Western Europe, begins a conversation on a new, 21st century re-conceptualization of ethno-national conflict in deeply divided societies, based on a paradigm of decolonising. This book will appeal to policymakers and practitioners in peacebuilding and related areas worldwide, and students of peace and conflict studies, as well as a general readership with an interest in decolonial approaches to world politics.