Book Chapters & Papers
How China Engages South Asia: Themes, Partners and Tools
Published by CSEP
May 3, 2023
Chapter on 'The Communist Party of China and Its Political Influence in Sri Lanka under the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Regime' was authored by Asanga Abeyagoonasekera. Based on eight case studies by analysts and scholars from Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, the report examines China’s growing role in a range of sectors in these four countries, including education, public diplomacy, technology, social media, civil society, party politics, religion, and governance.
‘India and the Island States in the Indian Ocean: Evolving Geopolitics and Security Perspectives’
Published by Indian Council of World Affairs
Feb 1st, 2023
Book Chapter on
'China in Sri Lanka’s Political-Economic Crisis; Foreign Policy and Security Perspective' was authored by
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera. India and the Island States in the Indian Ocean: Evolving Geopolitics and Security Perspectives, an edited publication by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), is an outcome of a web-based international seminar organised by the Council on 6 September 2022. The seminar was part of Council’s effort to bring forth different perspectives of Indian Ocean island states on evolving geo politics and geo strategic issues in the region and contemporary security issues confronted by the island states.
China in Sri Lanka and Solomon Islands: Role of Littorals in the Geopolitical Competition
Published by ISDP Sweden
July 2022
This issue brief discusses the growing Chinese sphere of influence in Sri Lanka and Solomon Islands, its impact on the region and on the regional powers, India and Australia. The Rajapaksa regime in Sri Lanka and Sogavare administration in Solomon Islands face significant geostrategic competition where security agreements and multiple infrastructure projects are carried out in the littorals by extra-regional powers. Both regimes faced public protest, and are seen as fragile democracies where Chinese maneuvers are visible. China is making inroads using the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to expand into Sri Lanka’s regional provinces. How do Sri Lanka and Solomon Islands threaten their immediate regional power? How can the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)/Quad help vulnerable nations to realign with a rules-based order? What is the role of littorals in the security balance?
Routledge Handbook on South Asian Foreign Policy
2021
This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of South Asian foreign policy, examining the complex history and present state of South Asian foreign policy, the foreign policy of the countries of the region, as well as their relationships with their neighbors and key external players, such as China and the United States, in an effort to understand South Asia’s place in the world order. It illustrates the future trajectory of foreign policy in the region and analyses future of regional arrangements like SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and BIMSTEC.
Intelligence and Law Enforcement in the 21st Century
2021
Overly complex interdependencies develop systemic risks and flow into our international system. A lesson from the pandemic is the importance of managing systemic risks due to globalization. The entire world is facing a trust recession due to the rise of populist politics and protectionist sentiments. We should regain trust and strengthen economic globalization and promote multilateral agenda. There are four factors identified for the widening trust deficit. If the trust is restored, there will be definite positive outcomes such as strong intra-regional trade, developed economy, and cross-border security. The pandemic exacerbated domestic nationalist viewpoints in many nations; taking this opportunity, pandemic nations like Sri Lanka had parliamentary elections and amended the constitution, shifting power to the president. The present ultra-nationalism and populist policies would further fuel and instill domestic malign mercantilism.
India-U.S. Relations in the Shadow of the Indo-Pacific by Aparna Pande 41
China’s Growing Influence in the Indian Ocean: Implications for Sri Lanka and its Regional Allies
2019
Project DescriptionThis is your Project Description. It’s a great place to describe your Project in more detail. Add images and provide visitors with essential information about your work, including the project length, partnerships or any successful outcomes. To hook new potential clients, show how your work has provided solutions for past clients.
The Indo-Pacific: Security, Geopolitics & Connectivity
2019
Indo-Pacific and geopolitics of BRI: A Sri Lankan perspective
The Modi Doctrine: New Paradigms in India’s Foreign Policy
2018
States today are far more engaged in diplomacy than ever before, actively building relations with other states to harness their mutual commercial and cultural strengths. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's outlook to global affairs is no different, yet there is a nuanced approach in linking India's foreign policy to domestic transformation. While on the one hand, his policies seek to attract foreign capital, technology and open foreign markets for Indian products, on the other, they are geared towards regional stability, peace and prosperity. All events are texts to be analysed and the authors in this volume do so but emphatically underline that India's diplomacy under Modi has got a go-getting edge, that it is no longer foreign anymore but a matter of public affairs and that with Modi at the helm, India is set to leverage its role and make itself a 'diplomatic superpower'.
2021
America and China Dock in Sri Lanka
A week before the United States (US) presidential election, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Sri Lanka to meet with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Pompeo then told Gotabaya that “[t]he United States wishes to see the Indian Ocean remain a zone of peace.”1 Sri Lanka’s role as an “Indian Ocean Zone for Peace” commenced during Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s non-aligned foreign policy vision in the 1970s. One of the significant areas where the littoral nation left a long-lasting imprint in international law was in its work on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena highlighted this singular achievement and Sri Lanka’s continuous commitment towards the norms and principles of the UNCLOS in his joint statement with Pompeo.