Although the norm of negotiation has not died, countervailing norms have emerged around non-negotiation with terrorists, militarily defeating terrorist organizations, and prioritizing stabilization over democratization, even if that means bolstering authoritarian rule. Across today’s battlefields—in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Sudan, and Yemen—external actors are… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Geopolitics
How is the World Ruled?
by Branko Milanovic on his blog, February 17, 2018 It is Saturday evening and snowing in New York. I have nowhere to go, I do have things to do (my book!) but my memories take over. Like for example, the simple question of how is the world ruled. I think that lots of misunderstanding among people in… Read more »
HRW: Key Elements for HRC 37 Statements on Sri Lanka
by Human Rights Watch, January 15, 2018 HRW Sri Lanka HRC37 letter We write to seek your support in ensuring that the upcoming consideration of Sri Lanka’s progress towards implementation of its commitments under UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution 30/1 accurately and substantively reflects the situation within the country, including both progress to date… Read more »
Sri Lanka Hands a Major Port to China
Sri Lanka, Struggling With Debt, Hands a Major Port to China by Kai Schultz, ‘The New York Times,’ December 12, 2017 NEW DELHI — Struggling to pay its debt to Chinese firms, the nation of Sri Lanka formally handed over the strategic port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease last week, in a… Read more »
Catalans and Kurds Discover the Hard Truth About Secession
by Max Fisher & Amanda Taub, ‘The New York Times,’ September 29, 2017 When does an independence movement get to form its own nation? For decades, a set of unstated but well-known rules has supposedly decided that. But those rules include a number of contradictions. And as the Catalans in Spain and the Kurds in… Read more »
Ongoing UNHRC session: What’s in store for Sri Lanka?
by SUNANDA DESHAPRIYA GroundViews 09/25/2017 The term ‘painfully slow progress’ has become a standard descriptor for Sri Lanka’s overall pace of implementation of UNHRC resolution A/HRC/30/1 in Geneva. It has been two years since Sri Lanka cosponsored the resolution “Promoting democracy, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka” pledging in the meantime to implement a comprehensive… Read more »
[US] Learning to Live With a Changing World Map
By JOSHUA KEATING The NY Times SEPT. 22, 2017 (Print Edition on Sept. 25, 2017 has the title: The U.S. Likes the World Map the Way It Is.) (Sangam’s Observation: Any reference to Tamil Freedom struggle for Eelam in Sri Lanka is missing. Internationally assisted genocide of more than 140,000 Tamil civilians to suppress independence… Read more »
India’s “Like-Minded” Partnerships to Counter China in South Asia
by Constantino Xavier, Center for Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania, September 11, 2017 China’s inroads into South Asia since the mid-2000s have eroded India’s traditional primacy in the region, from Afghanistan to Myanmar and also in the Indian Ocean. As Beijing deploys its formidable financial resources and develops its strategic clout across the… Read more »
India, U.S. and Japan Begin War Games
and China Hears a Message By Hari Kumar & Ellen Barry, ‘The New York Times,’ July 10, 2017 NEW DELHI — The navies of India, Japan and the United States began a set of war games on Monday with a particular target: submarines capable of sliding unannounced into the deep waters of the Indian Ocean, silently taking positions… Read more »
Ex-Diplomat Carne Ross: the Case for Anarchism
How a high-flying diplomat and Middle East adviser lost his faith in western democracy – but put his trust in people power by Andrew Anthony, ‘The Guardian,’ UK, July 9, 2017 If you were to play a game of word association with the term “anarchism” what would be the likely responses? Perhaps the anarchy sign,… Read more »
New Silk Road or New Great Game?
India Developing New Sri Lanka Port to Combat China by Forbes, April 22, 2017 As regional powers like China, Russia, Japan, and India vie for political and economic position throughout the eastern realms of Eurasia, many of the less powerful countries caught in the middle are employing what could be called a ‘multi-vector strategy’ as… Read more »
What Just Happened in Geneva (2.0)?
by Sri Lanka Campaign for Justice and Peace, London, March 31, 2017 Last week, members of the UN Human Rights Council adopted another resolution on Sri Lanka – Resolution 34/1 – renewing the government’s pledges to deliver a meaningful process of justice and reconciliation. In this post, we briefly explain how and why the resolution… Read more »
Understanding China’s Belt & Road Initiative
by Peter Chai, Lowy Institute for International Policy, Australia, March 2017 KEY FINDINGS There are strategic drivers behind China’s Belt and Road Initiative, but it is also motivated by the country’s pressing domestic economic challenges. The combination of strategic and economic drivers is not always easy to reconcile. In some cases, China’s strategic objectives make… Read more »
US Navy is Planning Fresh Challenges
“The more it became a big deal, the more it looked like what we were doing was retaliatory or vindictive. It’s not.” McGrath said. “It’s what we do. We say, ‘This is international water and we will proudly sail in it, steam in it, or fly over it to protect our right to do so… Read more »
What Nutmeg Can Tell Us About Nafta
by Amitav Ghosh, ‘The New York Times,’ December 30, 2016 GOA, India — For many years the word “globalization” was used as shorthand for a promised utopia of free trade powered by the world’s great centers of technological and financial innovation. But the celebratory note has worn thin. The word is now increasingly invoked to… Read more »
UNHRC Sessions March 2017 & Sri Lanka
by Thambu Kanagasabai, Toronto, December 10, 2016 Sri Lanka became a member of the United Nations in 1955, bound with obligations to observe the provisions of the United Nations and other United Nations Conventions. Some of the most important Conventions ratified by Sri Lanka are as follows:- International Convention on the Elimination of all forms… Read more »
The ICC, Out of Africa
by Thierry Cruvellier, ‘The New York Times,’ November 6, 2016 In just a few weeks, Burundi, South Africa and Gambia have announced that they would withdraw from the International Criminal Court, a permanent tribunal investigating war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Since its creation in 1998, the I.C.C. has been hobbled by the refusal… Read more »
How Sri Lanka Demonstrates the Limits of the UN System
This is a classic example of pursuing an important issue in a forum that’s not equipped to handle it. by Taylor Dibbert, ‘The National Interest,’ Washington, DC, October 20, 2016 In recent years, the island nation of Sri Lanka has received considerable attention from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council. Country-specific council resolutions were passed… Read more »
GTF welcomes the UN Special Rapporteur’s statement
Issued for immediate release PRESS STATEMENT 22 October 2016, London Global Tamil Forum welcomes the UN Special Rapporteur’s statement on minority rights and calling on Sri Lanka to act decisively to not to lose the momentous opportunity to bring lasting peace and reconciliation among all communities The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) welcomes the end-of-mission… Read more »
Statement of UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues
Statement of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, on the conclusion of her official visit to Sri Lanka, 10-20 October 2016 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20709&LangID=E by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, 20 October 2016 In my capacity as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues, I conducted an official… Read more »