Generational Dynamics Forum - New Site

Quote:

“In a single day, 18th May, 10,000 people were killed…

There are two wars going on here…
The other war is a bigger war between the US, India and China for control of the Indian Ocean…
To control the Indian Ocean you need a foothold in Sri Lanka…
All the heavy (war) machinery has been supplied by China…

America and India refused (to assist the genocide)…
China says “Don’t worry, you can tell them (America and India) to go to hell, we will supply you the money, the weapons, whatever you want, just ask and it shall be given to you.”

The combined killing in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Gaza is far less in the past 3 months than in Sri Lanka.”


- - - From an interview with Brian Senewiratne, cousin of the previous Sri Lankan president, ABC Radio (Australia), broadcast 22nd May 2009.

The full 7 minute story is at: http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/newsradio/a ... ilanka.mp3

What makes this a fascinating story is that Brian is part an "elite" family that once ruled that country. He implies that the main reason news of Sri Lanka is downplayed in the West is that nobody wants to upset the Sri Lankan government, as this strategic location is a key to the control of the Indian Ocean.

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Being a Sri Lankan myself and having been born and raised there, I am cautiously optimistic for my country. The conventional battlefield war between the government and the LTTE might be over but the deep seated grievances of the Tamil minority have not changed. It was precisely these grievances that gave birth to the war in the first place. I am wondering whether your generational dynamics point of view foresees the political leadership having the backbone to implement the politically-tough policies (such as devolution of power) to address minority grievances. In my personal opinion, I see politicians being too comfortable with a military victory to recognize the need for a political victory as well. I hope I am wrong.

kbob wrote: > Being a Sri Lankan myself and having been born and raised there, I
> am cautiously optimistic for my country. The conventional
> battlefield war between the government and the LTTE might be over
> but the deep seated grievances of the Tamil minority have not
> changed. It was precisely these grievances that gave birth to the
> war in the first place. I am wondering whether your generational
> dynamics point of view foresees the political leadership having
> the backbone to implement the politically-tough policies (such as
> devolution of power) to address minority grievances. In my
> personal opinion, I see politicians being too comfortable with a
> military victory to recognize the need for a political victory as
> well. I hope I am wrong.

First of all, let me offer my sincere condolences for the pain and
anguish you must have felt, especially these last few months, for any
friends and family who are still in Sri Lanka. Hopefully things will
improve.

You're right that the end of the war does not settle the underlying
grievances. What it does is to effect a massive change in attitudes
and behaviors among the people. This can be summarized as follows:
No matter how bad the grievances are, it's better to tolerate them
than to go through another war like the last one.

Since both the Tamils and the Sinhalese will fear another war more
than anything else, both sides will be very highly motivated to make
compromises and seek accommodation. But even when no compromise will
be found, living with the grievances will be considered better than
risking another war.

If you'd like to understand this better, the best way is to study
what happened in other countries after crisis civil wars climaxed.
Some recent examples include Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1970s,
Lebanon in the 1980s, and Bosnia and Rwanda in the 1990s. Each of
these crisis civil wars is unique and different, but they all share
one thing: The population's desire to avoid a new civil war at all
costs, and to tolerate any indignity, as long as doing so prevents
another war.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to post them. I'll try
to answer them, and there are other people in this forum who will
also be able to provide insights from their perspectives.

Sincerely,

John

John,

I refer to the following article:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=15667

I would like to hear your views regarding how the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka from a generational dynamics perspective would impact the geopolitical situation into which Sri Lanka has been placed with its involvement with the PRC and the SCO.

Thank you very much.

regards,
siginah

siginah wrote: > I refer to the following article:

> http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=15667

> I would like to hear your views regarding how the end of the civil
> war in Sri Lanka from a generational dynamics perspective would
> impact the geopolitical situation into which Sri Lanka has been
> placed with its involvement with the PRC and the SCO.

> Thank you very much.

That's a great article, with an interesting map:



http://www.globalresearch.ca/articlePictures/Indian%20Ocean%20Bases.jpg

I don't believe that the end of the Sri Lanka civil war has any major
impact on China's policy. China supported the Sinhalese government
during the civil war, and they're still supporting the government
now, so there's no change there.

With or without the civil war, China policy is to challenge the U.S.
and gain control of the trade routes from Shanghai to Africa. This
has been a major goal of China's huge military buildup, and a naval
battle will be a big part of the coming Clash of Civilizations world
war.

John