The Ambassadors’ Forum recently launched their seventh book in a series highlighting Sri Lanka’s potential in the new global order.
The book, titled Peace and Reconciliation, is a compilation of articles on this subject by eminent writers, academics, experts, and diplomats. They have looked at the issue mainly from a Foreign Policy perspective.
Plenty of other books have been written on this subject, but the Ambassadors’ Forum headed by Sarath Wijesinghe, PC, has taken a different approach here. In this timely book, available both in print and e-book form, the Forum discusses how Peace and Reconciliation leads to the betterment of Tourism, Employment, Investment, Agriculture and Foreign Policy.
This book is also timely in the context of the present economic crisis and other factors such as the War in Ukraine. Tourism was one of the sectors that experienced a boom since the battle against terrorism ended in 2009, at least until the Easter Attacks of April 2019 and the subsequent pandemic, which decimated global tourism.
Peace Dividend
Tourism contributed nearly US$ 6 billion a year to the State coffers, which had since dried up as tourists kept away. Tourism gained from the “Peace Dividend”, but the challenge now is to revive the sector, which was further affected by the adverse travel advisories issued by many Western Governments during the recent economic and political crisis.
The topic on Employment is also linked to Tourism, which used to employ nearly one million Sri Lankans, many of whom have now lost their jobs. Employment generation is a major topic in the present context and there is a shift towards SMEs and self-employment as a solution. Nearly one million Sri Lankans have gone abroad during the past few years for employment and many more are looking for foreign jobs to escape the economic conditions here. From a foreign policy perspective, the Government should negotiate with more countries on securing opportunities for our workers and ensuring their welfare.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has taken a hit as foreign investors have kept away mainly due to the present crisis. Trade and investment, not loans and grants, is the way forward for Sri Lanka. This factor has been highlighted in the book. It is thus essential to cut down on the red tape to facilitate FDI. Economic and political stability is also vital for the investors to come in, as there are plenty of alternative destinations they could choose from.
Organic in a hurry
Agriculture in Sri Lanka was severely affected by the previous Government’s decision to ban chemical fertiliser and other agrochemicals almost overnight. This ill-advised decision to go organic in a hurry (perhaps as a solution to save the dwindling foreign reserves) backfired in a spectacular fashion, lighting the flame of a popular revolt against the then administration. Harvests of almost all crops including paddy have gone down drastically and farmers are still scrambling to get chemical fertiliser at least for the next season. Although agriculture per se is seemingly not connected to foreign policy, the Chinese organic fertiliser fiasco is a reminder that Government authorities must take foreign relations into account at all times.
The book also focuses on Foreign Policy itself, which is timely in the context of the UNHRC sessions and other developments affecting Sri Lanka. There are many lessons that we can gain from attempts made by other countries to foster Peace and Reconciliation, such as the Good Friday Agreement (Ireland) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa). One should also not forget that many countries tried to mediate in good faith to bring peace to Sri Lanka, including Norway and Japan.
Shouting from the rooftops in Sinhala against the international community serves no purpose if we are not addressing their concerns at least to some extent.
The book contains 25 articles that span the length and breadth of the above topics. Among the articles are: Reconciliation and National Security – Striking the Right Balance (Prof. Rohan Gunaratna); Reconciliation and Peace – A Buddhist Perspective (Prasantha Lal de Alwis); Tourism in Sri Lanka the Way Forward (Sarath Wijesinghe, PC and Jeff Goonawardena); What Hampers Reconciliation? (Dr. Upul Wijayawardhana); Sri Lanka, Human Rights and the World (Uditha Devapriya); A Vital Perspective for Nation Building (Javid Yusuf); Human Security (Jehan Perera); Feeding the Nation At All Times (Dr. R.M.K. Ratnayake); Homegrown Solution (Jeevan Thiyagarajah); Prospects of Reconciliation (Lionel Bopage); Ocean Resources Foreign Policy Developments (Dr. Ivan Amarasinghe); Strategic Importance of a Neutral Foreign Policy (Sugeeswara Senadhira); Flawed Geneva Strategy (Shamindra Ferdinando) and Transforming Diplomacy in the Region (Rajpal Abeynayake).
Well-edited articles
All 25 articles are absorbing and replete with facts and information that will interest both academic and ordinary readers. The compilers (Sarath Wijesinghe, PC and Amila Wijesinghe) have made an earnest effort to present a mix of well-edited articles from an array of eminent writers and commentators. The sheer variety of ideas reflected herein must also be pursued by our lawmakers and policymakers so that they can be guided to take correct decisions. Anyone who buys this book should also look for the six previous books in this series, focusing on a gamut of subjects including the Geneva Crisis, Sri Lanka First, Covid-19 and Port City Colombo to gain an overall understanding of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy Perspectives.
The Ambassadors’ Forum must be thanked for bringing together this panel of writers, who would otherwise be writing on these topics for different publications here and abroad. No reader can keep track of all their articles in that case. Instead, in this book we have 25 superb articles from well-known writers, experts and commentators which can be read one after the other.
The Ambassadors’ Forum must seriously consider translating at least this book to both Sinhala and Tamil, so that vernacular readers may also gain an insight into these important topics, which are often not covered adequately in the vernacular press.
It will also be a boon for students interested in this vital topic.
According to the Ambassadors’ Forum, their editors are working on another new book. If this is anything to go by, the next one promises to be even better.