Archive for the ‘South Asia’ Category

|Guest Column| Emulate the Dragon: A Single-Party Government in India?

Posted: July 4, 2012 in China, East Asia, Guest Opinions, India, South Asia
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By Varun Bindra

India and China share similar histories; both were liberated from imperialist rule in the mid-1940s and both have experienced a period of economic prosperity since the late 20th Century. However, one core difference between the two nations will allow China to continue to prosper while causing India’s economic performance to stagnate: their governments. On paper, India’s democracy seems much more enlightened than China’s one-party Communist state. In fact, many would agree that it is. However, while India’s model has allowed for better civil and human rights, its democracy is holding the nation back from the economic prosperity attained by China. And while democracy has allowed the West to undergo rapid economic development in the 19th and 20th Centuries, the democratic model cannot be effectively emulated in India for a few reasons.

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SPECIAL: Roots of Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict – Part 2

Posted: June 5, 2012 in South Asia, Sri Lanka
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The first part of this series addressed the origins of Buddhist revivalism and its impact on developing a strong Sinhala Buddhist identity during the colonial period. While the concept was not adopted broadly, it remained an influential philosophy among some religious and political classes. With the arrival of independence, Buddhist revivalism was re-invigorated and reinvented to chart the future of post-Colonial Ceylon (Sri Lanka from 1972). It played an important role in pushing Sinhalese culture and religion to the forefront of the island’s national identity and sought to right the wrongs of over four-hundred years of colonial rule. However, It also contributed to the deterioration of ethnic relations between Sinhalese and Tamils, culminating in a decades long civil war.

State building in a post-Colonial World

There was no lack of conflict in the new born states of the post-colonial era. As European powers pulled out of much of Asia and Africa, a plethora of states were born. Ravaged by centuries of colonial extraction, these states clearly lacked the political maturity that their former rulers had developed through centuries of practice with the Westphalia nation-state model.

Probably the most important goals for indigenous political elites at this time, were national integration and state-building. The national government had to extend its authority throughout the newly formed boundaries of the state. This was troublesome because many of these states were unified or shaped geographically through colonialism; in some cases, groups locked within a single state had little prior interaction with some of their new compatriots.

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An apology and a sense of gloom: Sri Lanka’s new crisis

Posted: April 27, 2012 in South Asia, Sri Lanka
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A few months ago, I wrote a piece on the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s ability to redress the wrongs of the nation’s ethnic strife. The argument was based on his government’s seemingly unshakeable position of power that would allow Rajapakse to make the tough decisions and compromises required to solve the Sinhala/Tamil divide. Lesser attempts by previous governments have been viewed as betrayal by the radical Buddhist right, who see the defence of their faith as a national duty. Would Rajapakse, one of the strongest presidents in the island’s history even called a dictator by his opponents, cave to similar pressures? Its litmus test came in the form of recent attacks by Buddhist radicals on a Mosque in one of Sri Lanka’s historical capitals. The result? Appeasement; failure.

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Israel’s Periphery: Relic of the Past or an evolved Foreign Policy?

Posted: April 12, 2012 in Egypt, India, Iranian Nuclear Issue, Israel, Middle East, Turkey
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Most observers have stressed on Israel’s Western support, particularly the United States, as an integral part to its survival in the region. Since its inception in 1948, Israel has had to come to terms with the hostilities of its Arab neighbours, many of whom were against the establishment of the Jewish state on the former British mandate of Palestine and took part in an effort to undo its creation. However, Israeli leaders like David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, saw that it a necessity to establish ties with other regional, non-Arab states like Iran, Turkey and Ethiopia, through a policy often referred to as the Periphery Doctrine. With the Islamic Revolution of 1979, this secret and unofficial alliance was called into question; many refer to it as an antique of Israeli foreign policy. As relations with Turkey have soured in the past few years, can we relegate Israel’s Periphery Doctrine to the history books? Or has it simply evolved into something else?

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SPECIAL: Roots of Sri Lanka’s Ethnic Conflict – Part 1

Posted: April 3, 2012 in South Asia, Sri Lanka
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We are often told that finding the root cause of a given problem will help us formulate a solution. Unfortunately, the world is a complex place with causal relationships difficult to establish. In most cases, there are a variety of factors working together to propel any given phenomenon and the likelihood of identifying, let alone understanding their interactions, is almost non-existent. This article does not claim to provide a complete picture of the root causes of Sri Lanka`s ethnic conflict, however, it is an attempt to explain some of the contributors to what became a bloody civil war that plagued the island for 25 years at the cost of thousands of its sons and daughters. This is a layered approach, first examining the psyche, the narrative of the people involved and then delving into the situations and their interpretations that created Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict.

Destined for Conflict?

Many are often drawn to simplistic explanations that often draw the warring sides as natural enemies; communities destined for war since the days of old. Such claims come up when discussing conflicts between the Arabs and Jews or Shiites and Sunnis. The same has been said about Sri Lanka`s ethnic conflict, that the Sinhalese and Tamil people have struggled for dominance since the ancient times, captured perfectly in the war between the Sinhala King Duttagamani and the Tamil King Elara. Furthermore, rulers in the Southern (Tamil speaking) Indian kingdoms often sought to invade Sri Lanka. These stories become part of a narrative that plays a major role in shaping the Sinhala identity and while the events in themselves are not proof of a natural enmity between the communities, their re-telling has given birth to a strong construct that makes sense of the present through the past.

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India v. China: Two giants in the Asian pond?

Posted: March 26, 2012 in China, East Asia, India, South Asia, Sri Lanka
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by Shanthal Perera

When murmurs about the fall of the United States began a decade ago, there was a consensus that China and India would be two states capable of filling the void. Today, both states have fortified their “regional superpower” status and are slowly growing their influence outside Asia. Still, their close proximity, competing national interests and history of disputes (from borders to Asian politics) continue to cause these colossi to bump heads.

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Sri Lanka: A Strange Chance for Peace

Posted: March 21, 2012 in South Asia, Sri Lanka
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It has been over three years since Sri Lanka’s long civil war came to a violent end in the swamps of Mullaitivu. The famous government line regarding the future of Sri Lankan ethnic relations was “winning the peace,” a victory that has become as elusive as the LTTE was during the 25 year struggle. Tamil sentiment in the war-torn regions was conveyed strongly during the elections that followed the end of conflict, where President Mahinda Rajapakse defeated the opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka, the former general who had lead the military to victory. Despite Rajapakse’s victory, Tamils voted for the man who led the war in military attire. This was a damning account of the President, one that hasn’t changed much since. However, there is an opportunity on the horizon to solve some aspects of Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem.

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