About
Asanga is an Author, International Security and Geopolitics Analyst and Strategic Advisor from Sri Lanka.
He is a Senior Fellow and the Executive Director of the South Asia Foresight Network(SAFN)
at the Millennium Project in Washington DC. Asanga is a Technical Advisor to the International Monetary Fund(IMF) in Washington DC, where he contributed to Sri Lanka's IMF Governance Diagnostic Report 2023.
He has led two Government think tanks providing strategic advocacy on Foreign
Policy and Security in Sri Lanka. He was the Founding Director-General of the National
Security Think Tank under the Ministry of Defence (INSSSL) until January 2020.
Before this, he has served as the Executive Director at the Foreign Policy think tank
(Kadirgamar Institute LKIIRSS).
Asanga serves as the Senior Advisor (Honourary) on
Security and Geopolitics to the Leader of the Opposition, Parliament of Sri Lanka and
was the Advisor (Honourary) to Minister of External Affairs in 2011-2015. He has provided
consultancy as a Senior Researcher to Social Impact (USAID Project), ASPI(Asia Society) and to
Fortune 500 executives.
Asanga’s new book is 'Teardrop Diplomacy(2023)' published by Bloomsbury publishers.
Previously he authored 'Conundrum of an Island
(2021)' published by World Scientific,
‘Sri Lanka at Crossroads(2019)' and ‘Towards a Better World Order(2015)'.
His books were endorsed by Prof. Walter Russell, Dr. David Brewster, C.Raja Mohan,
Daniel Sachs, George Yeo, Parag Khanna and many other academics and practitioners.
He is a keen commentator on Geopolitics, International Relations, China in
Sri Lanka and South Asian Security challenges, South Asian politics and preserving
democratic values and has written extensively and published on international
journals including Routledge, Cambridge Journal, IGI, South Asia Journal
and think tanks. His interest is on China in South Asia and in Indo-Pacific.
He has appeared in CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, NBC, CNBC, CNA, France TV, DW Germany, Dubai TV, Indian News Channels and Sri Lankan media. Asanga is a member of the National Press Club in Washington DC.
He has served as a Visiting Professor for Geopolitics and Global Leadership (NKU, USA),Visiting Lecturer for International Security (Colombo University, Sri Lanka), International Political Economy (University of London in Colombo RIC). He is visiting Fellow at NIICE(Nepal).
He is an Alumnus of the US State Department IVLP, Fellow at National Defense University (NESA, NDU) in
Washington DC, Fellow at APCSS (Hawaii) and Young Global Leader World Economic
Forum (Geneva). In 2021 he was appointed to the Global Advisory Council along with
former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and several other distinguished individuals
to the Apolitical Global Academy. He serves as a Member of the Strategic Intelligence Expert Council of the World Economic Forum(WEF) and contributed to the WEF Global Risk Report 2024.