Reviewing International Encounters (RIE)
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Item Relevance of neorealist analysis of foreign policy challenges of a small state with special reference to Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis(Reviewing International Encounters 2015, Research Center for Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2015) Gunasena, J.T.S.The neorealist explanation of systemic influences on foreign policy behavior of a country is argued out to be more relevant in case of a small state‟s responses towards external world in international relations theory. But some scholarly efforts have challenged this notion through empirical evidences. The main research purpose of this paper is to do the niche marketing on the relevance of neorealism in describing Sri Lanka‟s foreign relations. The qualitative content analysis on secondary data which were gathered through data triangulation method has been used for this research purpose. Sri Lanka‟s foreign policy decisions was dominated by the strategic aspirations of the regional power. Driven by the security dilemma of the anarchism prevailing in the structure, equally placed states in the system strived to maintain their relative position in the international power spectrum for their survival. The powerful states made use of their power to defend their positions in the system while the smaller states had to rely on such powerful nations for their protection. Since Sri Lanka did not formally joined the western bloc it is not fully correct to say that it bandwagon. But Sri Lankan behavior in the international relations proved that it informally included itself in that coalition. Neorealism explains that the relative position of the states determined its behaviour, and if the states disregard the power imperatives of the system they had to bear the cost of doing that. This was evident in the Indo-Lanka relations. Sri Lanka had to legitimise the hegemonic role of India. When the balance of power had to be maintained in the system for its stability other regional and extra regional powers did not attempt to upset the status quo by providing any assistance to Sri Lanka as long as India became strategically a more important actor in the regional politics than that of Sri Lanka. The role of the regional and international organizations also proved the neorealist prediction on their minimal role is true, because the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the United Nation‟s Human Rights Council mainly involved in Indo-Lanka relations proved that they are only instrumental in implementing propaganda campaign of the member states. The states‟ power is above the organizations and even these organizations can be used for various political agendas of the member states. It further revealed that South Asia hugely lacks any credible and dynamic regional mechanism to work as a facilitating body in minimizing the regional tensions among the member states. To that end they had to rely on either extra-regional powers or the regional hegemons for the survival. Neorealist analysis concludes that systemic factors are very much influential in determining Sri Lanka‟s foreign policy behavior. The external mediation and intervention by India and Norway with respect to the ethnic crisis were evident in Sri Lankan history which repeatedly proved even under two different regimes that the systemic pressures and persuasions are inevitable. The neorealist school of thought thus provides the necessary theoretical explanation required to justify Sri Lanka‟s foreign policy behavior in accordance with neorealism that emphasized the impact of systemic influences on foreign policy responses of Sri Lanka rather than the domestic political explanationItem Neorealism versus two level games theory in explaining Sri Lanka’s foreign policy towards the external compulsions(Reviewing International Encounters 2015, Research Center for Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2015) Gunasena, J.T.S.The enduring debate over the structural and domestic political explanation of international relations has created the motivation for this paper. The main objective of this paper is to provide a theoretical explanation to Sri Lanka‟s foreign policy and the need for such analysis arises from the fact that the existing literature lacks in such theoretical interpretation of Sri Lanka‟s foreign policy. The neorealism and two levels games theory that explain two different approaches to a country‟s external policy making had been tested on the Sri Lankan context through this paper. The literature survey depicts that the previous research on Sri Lanka‟s foreign policy had not attempted to analyze it through the application of theories even though few scholarly efforts have only referred to the two theories in their writings. At the same time the validation of these two theories to find the most appropriate still exists as a research gap in literature. One of the limitations of this paper is it looks at the foreign relations of Sri Lanka based on its ethnic crisis and how it affects the dealings with the outside world. To meet these theoretical requirements in foreign policy literature of Sri Lanka as a small power with special reference to its ethnic crisis, the data triangulation method has been used for the data collection from the secondary sources and the three levels analysis has been used as the main analytical model. The direct qualitative content analysis has been the data analyzing method that has been used in this paper. But the implementation of Indian proposals that came through the form of Indo-Lanka Peace Accord proved to be a failure as a result of domestic constraints that obstructed the smooth relations between India and Sri Lanka. As a result Sri Lanka had to accept the Indian hegemony proving the fact that small state‟s policy making is largely constrained by the external pressures in the international system. But the domestic win-set at the Level II negotiation sabotaged the Indo-Lankan Peace Accord causing a humiliation for India on its failed diplomatic efforts as a mediator and guarantor of preserving peace and security in Sri Lanka. The voluntary and involuntary defection of the Sri Lankan policy makers obstructed the smooth functioning of Indian proposals at home. The public opinion, party politics, and pressure groups of the Sri Lankan polity constrained the implementation of Indian proposals agreed at the Level I negotiation. Those domestic constraints influence the policy makers for involuntary defection. This paper analyzed the systemic pressure and domestic pressures impact on the foreign policy making of a country through the Sri Lankan experience. The security dilemma that prevailed in the system continues to exist even after the Cold War with the rise of non-traditional threats such as terrorism and fundamentalism. All the states strive hard to secure their position in the system to maintain the balance of power and India achieved its goal of securing the regional dominancy. India intervened to the Sri Lankan ethnic issue to ensure its.Item Chinese Soft Power Strategies Towards Sri Lanka and Its Implications on International Politics(Reviewing International Encounters 2018,The Research Center for Social Sciences (RCSS), University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Gunasena, J.T.S.Chinese involvement in South Asia has been perceived as a threat by certain regional and extra regional powers such as India and the U.S.A. whereas China proclaimed it as a peaceful invitation for mutual co-existence with the rest of the world which was embraced by many smaller powers such as Sri Lanka. This attachment between China and Sri Lanka specially during latter’s post-conflict period since 2009 had created certain clashes of interests among above mentioned regional and extra regional powers whereas Sri Lanka provided the platform for these controversies which resulted even some negative implications on the conduct of Sri Lankan policies. The main focus of this study is to identify the impact of China’s soft power usage and the implication of it on the Sri Lankan external and internal relations. One objective is to identify strategies used by China in terms of trade and investments to influence Sri Lanka by means of soft power and another objective is to determine the implications of it on international politics. Content analysis has been used in order to analyse secondary data collected through data triangulation method available in different data sources such as government publications, books, interviews, historical records, speeches, and web. The content analysis evaluates document texts and test theoretical underpinnings of the particular issue to understand data more comprehensively. Soft power strategy used by China has been significant role in the form of investments, development grant, cultural donations, bilateral trade agreements and consolidation of diplomatic and political relations that has been remarkable feature in post- conflict period of Sri Lanka. During the previous government in Sri Lanka pro Chinese policies were strengthened due to the high interest of Rajapaksha government for bilateral loans, which came with no political strings and repayment period is negotiable and China tries to spread its power through bilateral loans to developing countries. This unexpected strategic presence of the China in Sri Lanka was much disturbing for the implementation of India-Sri Lanka relations and the U.S –Sri Lanka which were under anxiety. Chinese presence has been always seen as a vital threat by the international community since it’s so called peaceful development has identified as a smart strategy with hidden security goals. Both India and the U.S.A created difficulty for Sri Lanka in the form of human rights allegations during the conflict and even call for Security Council resolutions for an international investigation in to it. On the other hand, China's strategy of non-interference has implied that it has no ambition to interfere in to domestic political issues in Sri Lanka. China is highly concerned of the fact that if it can’t be the hegemon in South Asia, it won’t allow anybody else to do so. It is clear that China effectively used trade and investments compared to India and the U.S.A. But Sri Lanka has to be more cautious in maintaining balanced relationship with all the countries since China is not that much reliable partner in the light of rapidly changing international politics