Transnational Security and Postinsurgency Issues

by Sheyam Tekwani, Academia.edu, 2010

From from “Issues for Engagement: Asian Perspectives in Transnational Security Challenges,” published by Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, 2010

Posted on Academia.org & only available for online reading at http://www.academia.edu/4740547/Sri_Lanka_Transnational_Security_and_Postinsurgency_Issues

Key Findings

• sri lanka’s quarter-century civil war may be over, but many of the underlying causes of the war continue to linger.

• the international network of the defeated tamil tigers continues to control immense financial and logistical resources and is supported by the nearly one million tamil diaspora. meanwhile, the victorious rajapaksa government has been slow in implementing its promise of political settlement and integrating the minorities into the political and socioeconomic life of the country. these realities may contribute to the radicalization of a new generation of tamils, both on the island and in the diaspora in north america, europe, australia and asia.

• International sanctions on the island nation will impede the process of reconstruction and resettlement—even as inflation drags the economy down further—and lead to social unrest.
• no amount of foreign aid will mitigate sri lanka’s problems without ensuring better governance to address the country’s serious economic and political challenges.

• the last stages of the war saw a rush of internally displaced persons (IDPs) take to the high seas, sailing off to countries of the european union, canada and australia seeking asylum as
refugees. the urgent task of resettling three hundred thousand tamil IDPs has been slow, creating further resentment among the minority community.

• the last stages of the war saw a rush of internally displaced persons (IDPs) take to the high seas, sailing off to countries of the european union, canada and australia seeking asylum as
refugees. the urgent task of resettling three hundred thousand tamil IDPs has been slow, creating further resentment among the minority community

.  ethnic tensions in sri lanka have the potential to spill over and destabilize India, america’s key economic and strategic partner in south asia. given that sri lanka has been a friend and democratic partner of the united states since gaining independence in 1948, disengaging from sri lanka could have negative consequences for us geostrategic interests in the region…

this paper argues that it would be counterproductive for the united states and the european union to disengage from sri lanka and deny it the sustenance it requires for the reconstruction of the country. the potential outcomes of a policy of disengagement and noncooperation are the reemergence of an insurgent group that used terror as a tactic, providing a model for learning by other insurgent groups and an increase in influence over a strategic location by regional powers like china, russia and India

Abstract : Faculty members at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) have endeavored to gather in this volume a series of perspectives from the Asia-Pacific region. The resulting product of their efforts, in the form of this collection of essays, is intended to offer perspectives APCSS faculty have gathered from recent travels and other intersections with diverse groups dealing with these challenges regularly. As you would expect, the common thread is the diversity of perspectives, leading to various strategies, policies and actions to accomplish national objectives related to prioritized security challenges. The book contains the following essays: “Russia’s Transnational Security: Challenges, Policies, and International Cooperation, by Rouben Azizian; “The Perfect Storm? Thailand’s Security Predicament,” by Miemie Winn Byrd; “Transnational Security Threats to Indonesia,” by James R. Campbell; “Cambodia’s Transnational Security Challenges,” by Jessica H. S. Ear; “US-Oceania Security Cooperation in the Post 9/11 World: Whose Agendas and Priorities?” by Gerard A. Finin; “Japan’s Transnational Security Agenda,” by David Fouse; “Republic of Korea: Meeting the Challenge of Transnational Threats in the Twenty-First Century,” by Steven Kim; “Afghanistan at a Crossroads: Transnational Challenges and the New Afghan State,” by Kerry Lynn Nankivell; “Transnational Security Challenges in India,” by Rollie Lal; “Perceptions of Transnational Security Threat in Malaysia and Singapore: Windows of Cooperative Opportunities for the United States,” by Yoichiro Sato; “Sri Lanka: Transnational Security and Postinsurgency Issues,” by Shyam Tekwani; and “Vietnamese Perspectives on Transnational Security Challenges,” by Alexander Vuving.

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Further reading:

  1. One Hundred Thousand Tamils Missing After Sri Lanka War
  2. Do Less Harm
  3. Revisiting the Horror in Sri Lanka

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