Non-alignment at the crux of Sri Lanka's foreign policy since 2009

Abstract

Sri Lanka under different heads of state had witnessed and experienced diverse foreign policies from a post-independent pro-western policy to a cold war non-aligned policy. Subsequent to the dénouement of the protracted conflict in 2009, Sri Lanka’s relations with its neighbours and other actors in the international arena engendered features of non-alignment. Nevertheless, President Rajapaksa’s Independence Day speech at Trincomalee in 2013 cogently established that post-war Sri Lanka is a country with a non-aligned foreign policy. Moreover, given the fact that Sri Lanka has been the cynosure of international fora such as the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Commonwealth it is of cardinal importance for this island nation to adopt and maintain a non-aligned foreign policy. In addition India’s fear psychosis and threat perception on the “string of pearls” strategy, involvement of China, Russia and the US, Sri Lanka’s growing ties and cooperation with the ASEAN nations, the non-aligned movement, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization must also be taken into consideration in observing Sri Lanka’s non-aligned foreign policy orientation. This research intends to address contemporary issues contributing to the foreign policy making of Sri Lanka since 2009. In addition, such an analysis shall be conducted in the light of George Modelski’s views on foreign policy. Moreover, Geoffrey Stern’s ideas on “foreign policymaking” are used comprehensively to evaluate Sri Lanka’s foreign policy. The author nonetheless intends to analyze “how post-war Sri Lanka would benefit from a non-aligned foreign policy.” The paper shall further look into the factors which distinguish neutrality from non-alignment. The research will be mainly based on primary sources such as Hansard reports of the Sri Lankan parliament, bilateral and multilateral agreements, speeches made by heads of state and foreign ministers, wikileaks, commission reports and United Nations resolutions. Secondary sources such as journal articles, books written on foreign policy by SU Kodikara and SD Muni, “Foreign Policy” magazine articles, websites of Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lanka and of Chinese think tanks and the international media shall also be used extensively. Therefore primary and secondary sources shall contribute to qualitative research with the absence of an experimental design. Hence the author shall produce content based analysis through archival research. Collected data on the foreign policy of Sri Lanka will be analyzed through the lens of “neutrality.” As the concluding remark, the author shall determine whether Sri Lanka, since the end of the war in 2009 has benefited from a non-aligned foreign policy thus making Sri Lanka a hub in Asia. The author may also suggest an alternative foreign policy if non-alignment has failed.