The Sea Power of Small States: A Case Study of Sri Lanka (original) (raw)
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Sea Power of Island Nations in 21 st Century: Challengers and Opportunities in Sri Lanka
The 21 st-century entire gamut of the nature of security is changing rapidly. Indian Ocean (IO) receives attention from state and non-state actors. Extra-regional countries such as the U.S., China and Japan are keen to have some presence in the IO. On the other hand, regional powers India and Australia ardent and interested in maintaining her regional stability. They are interested in projecting sea power beyond their locale to garner economic and political sustainability in the world arena, and where the IO is a major arena of competition. These great powers have a keen interest over Indian Ocean island states, and their sphere of influence is inevitable.
Sea Power of island nations in 21 st Century: Challenges and Opportunities in Sri Lanka
KDU-IRC 2018, Sri Lanka, Research Proceedings , 2019
In this paper researcher is attempting to research contemporary requirement of applying the maritime concept of Sea Power as a strategy into practice to counter non-traditional maritime security threats to Sri Lanka. Researcher as a practitioner and a scholar in the field of maritime security, observations were made about the lack of relationship between maritime strategies and practices as a phenomenon, perspective and philosophy. This is research by studying the maritime concept of Sea Power, practices of small state navies and challenges and opportunities in Sri Lanka. Sea Power is basically military and civil maritime capabilities of a country. Sri Lanka is more vulnerable to non-traditional maritime security issues such as drug trafficking, gun running, terrorism, piracy, poaching, marine pollution, human smuggling, illegal transfer of item and IUU (Illegal Unregulated and Unreported) fishing activities. Therefore, counter strategies should developed by understanding of maritime theories as well the use of those theories into practice. My research problem highlighted inadequacy of addressing the social reality in the field of maritime security in Sri Lanka. In this research, seek to examine how these maritime strategies could be applied as practice to strengthen national security of the country. This puzzling issue highlights the significance of understanding the concept of Sea Power and its use. The objective of this paper is to draw attention to understand the necessity of transition of maritime strategies to practitioners to take actions. The researcher has selected qualitative research method with collecting data from secondary sources and this includes scholarly articles, books, case studies, journals, etc. Further researcher is forward data with his personnel observation. A theoretical review is discussed with the theory of 'Strategy as Practice'. The requirement of affiliation between maritime theoreticians, developers and practitioners is at the highest peak of requirement with the existing situation in the country.
Sri Lanka’s Naval Role Beyond Gunboat Diplomacy: National and Regional Security
Emerging Scholars Symposium Proceedings , 2019
The foreign policies of the USA and of China appear to be based on aspirations to create a unipolar world, driven by the need to access real but unevenly distributed global resources across fictitious national boundaries defended by force, giving rise to tensions. Sri Lanka straddles important maritime routes, has the world’s largest natural harbor and is a unique platform that can function as an entrepôt for capital and expertise flowing into regions of the IORA, SAARC, BIMSTEC and Antarctica. Furthermore, it can serve as a hub for the transhipment of commodities, goods and services flowing out of these regions and into the global markets. The functioning of the island as an entrepôt requires the skilful balancing of global geo-strategic equations, as well as the configuration of regional ones due to local and international politics. Within this context, naval forces play three main roles, namely: military, policing and diplomatic, and the diplomatic role of the navy can have two arms. The military arm is also called ‘Gunboat Diplomacy’, and the strategic arm is based on confidence building and conflict resolution. This study focuses on the soft power diplomacy of the Sri Lanka Navy for the management of complex strategic relations which require power, political will and diplomatic skill. It shows that the current historical moment offers the Sri Lankan Navy a unique opportunity to play a significant role in the task of balancing regional geo-strategic equations in ways that enable the guaranteeing of the free movement of shipping to and from the island. It also adds to the literature on Sri Lanka Naval diplomacy, aimed at the maintenance of peace and stability in the Indian Ocean Region. The paper concludes that the setting up of an Indian Ocean Treaty Organization, governing the conduct of maritime forces within the Indian Ocean, is a vital mechanism for the balancing of regional geo-strategic equations; and that Sri Lanka’s naval soft diplomacy has a vital role to play in hosting and housing this mechanism on the island entrepôt. Keywords: Sri Lanka Navy, Soft Diplomacy, Indian Ocean Region, Entrepôt, Indian Ocean Treaty Organization
Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2020
Sri Lanka’s marine area and maritime security is vulnerable to the international and regional constraints which are not only military but also commercial too. It appears that traditional realist approaches and a liberal approach are not adequate for protecting, maintaining and managing the maritime security of Sri Lanka. In this context, this paper analyses how the Government of Sri Lanka can effectively face the country’s maritime security challenges and safeguard its maritime security by establishing a maritime strategy applying available resources. The research involves qualitative methods, draws information from a wide range of primary and secondary sources and makes a descriptive analysis. The findings reveal that as a result of the regional and extra-regional power rivalry in the Indian Ocean region between India, China, USA and Japan, island nations such as Sri Lanka have encountered maritime security challenges. The paper concludes with implications for some realistic policies to overcome such challenges, especially structural and practical nature, of maritime security issues of the country
Balance of Power and Power Transition are amongst the central concepts on which international and regional structures are based upon. These structures are hierarchical in nature, the established balance of which assures a modicum of stability and peace. Within this hierarchical order reside nations with varying power and influencing capabilities, broadly classified as satisfied and dissatisfied nations. While satisfied nations are content with the existing balance and support it, some dissatisfied nations seek a power transition to a higher hierarchical level. This power transition poses a challenge to the balance of power in the existing international or regional order. Along with the concepts of Balance of Power and Power Transition, Regional Security Complex Theory enables an understanding of the security order and an evaluation of the relative balance of power. These three concepts have also impacted the maritime domain, the results of which are evident in the security architectures of the maritime regions around the world. Further, Balance of Power and Power Transition are continuously evolving due to the developing capabilities and capacities of nations. Therefore, it follows that nations will seek to either maintain the desired balance or to challenge and alter the balance in their favour, and will accordingly exploit the maritime medium. One method of exploitation is pursuance of Freedom of Navigation as a maritime right. This paper will analyse the concepts of Regional Security Complex Theory, Balance of Power, Power Transition, and Freedom of Navigation while correlating them with the conduct of USA, China and Pakistan within India’s Areas of Maritime Interest, specifically the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Regions.
Power Play in the Indian Ocean: A Threat to Regional Stability
The evolving international order and changing security dynamics have pushed both regional and extra-regional powers into more of a complex security framework. The security dilemma of the existing international world order can be stated in terms of anarchy. It is the existence of anarchy due to which states pursue self-interest which ultimately sets the stage for power play. The same scenario seems to have arisen in the IOR. The rising economic and geopolitical significance of the Indian Ocean by featuring the strategic moves of India, China, and the US; as well as the impact of these moves on the security of the overall region demand attention. This needs to be analysed with regards to the impact of three contentions i.e. the India-Pakistan security dyad, the competitive economic rivalry between China and India, and the third contention in terms of China and the US. Furthermore, the end result of power play in the Indian Ocean can be studied under two dimensions i.e. break up of conflict or strategic competition between the regional players and in the context of the states whose interests are at stake by the shift of power balance in the region.
The port policy of small island powers: Sri Lankan perspective
KDU-IRC 2021, 2021
This paper discusses the requirement of reorienting the port policy of Sri Lanka. The port policy directly concerns national interest and the fundamental values of the state that are strategically significant for acquiring, managing, and controlling the global power strategy. At present, Sri Lanka is expanding port policies due to the shift in the power of the global economic arena. Therefore, Hambanthota and Colombo port have given significance to Sri Lanka and made them maritime influencers in their own rights. In this context, each of the global powers will see a threat to itself if the Government of Sri Lanka is to favor one over the other. Even though Sri Lanka has applied the non-alignment policy approach, the littoral state, port policy of Sri Lanka faces the dilemma of balancing or bandwagoning strategy with the state and non-state actors. The objectives of the present research are to explain the geo strategic importance of Sri Lanka in terms of port power and to critically examine the challenges to the port policy of Sri Lanka, to investigate the positive and negative impact of challenges to the port security of Sri Lanka. Research methods of the present research deal with both descriptive and analytical in nature. The study is mainly based on secondary sources. This research found the unstable port policies with the frequent change of domestic government resulted in chaos in the economic stability. Observation has made the reluctance of cooperation and difficulty of managing and understanding maritime agreements, and lack of coherent functionalism in the port policies. Thus, a non-aligned strategic approach would be the best port policy for Sri Lanka. Further, the structure of the international system is influential, and Sri Lanka must not persuade the individual character of the leader where port policies must base on an in-depth understanding of the maritime concepts and theories and apply them into function.
The Elements of Sea Power and the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the West Asian Region
Malaysian Journal of International Relations, 2023
During the last three decades, China has made significant progress, especially in the fields of economic development, defence, science and technology, and multilateral cooperation. Its emergence as a global power has also increasingly been challenging the US position. Many economic and strategic initiatives taken by China have provided it with strategic space and depth in the neighbouring region as well as the world also. The country is now openly displaying its military power and acting as a hegemon in the South and the East China Sea. The US is trying to counter the emerging influence of China by developing different alliances and partnerships in the Asia-Pacific and other regions. Thus, rivalry and tension have been increasing between China and the US and its allies. The present study analyses the designs of these emerging tensions and conflicts in the Indo-Pacific Region (IPR). The neighbouring West Asian Region (WAR), a playground of different global powers, is also a crucial region for the Indo-Pacific strategic game plan. The WAR has historically been dominated by the West and is therefore an integral part of their strategic thinking. Therefore, the necessity for the WAR to precisely define its strategic interest and responsibility for all surrounding regions and global powers has also been discussed. A discussion has also been made of current naval strength and how to unite it into a single unit. The geopolitical vision of Alfred Thayer Mahan in the form of the 'Elements of Sea Powers' has also been analysed to conclude as to how the WAR should adopt them to become a great naval power. In conclusion, the study also provides many suggestions and options for WAR's Indo-Pacific strategy. The paper is based on secondary data. Meanwhile, the analytical descriptive approach adopted for the present research is based on the analysis of historical facts, discourse, and political developments. The data is collected from various books, journals, government portals, reports, newspapers, and publications of many institutions and organisations.
The aim of this paper is to project the emerging power-relations in the maritime realm between geopolitical players in the Indian Ocean region. These power-relations involve military shields and spears, infrastructure development, alignment–alliance relations, international trade routes, critical choke points, energy, and above all geopolitical implications. The methods followed in the paper are content analysis, case-method, interview, observation, and so forth. The paper concludes that emerging power polarizations are visible and are gradually taking a tangible shape in the form of military–economic condominium, presumably coming from opposite directions.