By Brian Calvert
09 Jun 2009 |
World Politics Review
Velupillai Prabhakaran, the deceased leader of the Tamil Tigers, once
likened himself to a spider in the center of a web. But over the past two years, the Sri
Lankan military methodically, unflinchingly pulled his web apart,
ultimately dismantling one of the most sophisticated insurgencies in
the world. Still, though Prabhakaran is no more, the root causes of the original insurrection survive him.
By Brian Calvert
25 Dec 2008 |
World Politics Review
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- The information war that has emerged from Sri Lanka's 20-year
insurgency teaches us as much about the importance of narrative in
counterinsurgency as it does about the conflict itself. Support for both sides of the conflict has even found its way
onto Facebook, where hundreds of groups pit the lion iconography of the
Sri Lankan flag against the tiger emblem of the LTTE.
By Brian Calvert
18 Dec 2008 |
World Politics Review
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- The Sri Lankan government has been widely criticized for its
campaign against the Tamil Tigers, including allegations of torture, extrajudicial killings and attacks on civilians. But it has also been
successful in the past two years in convincing foreign governments to
act against the insurgents and their support networks abroad.
By Brian Calvert
10 Dec 2008 |
World Politics Review
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- In the silent, low-res imagery of the
closed-circuit video footage that rapidly spread across YouTube, the
young Tamil woman appears unafraid, even poised. Wrapped in a crisp
sari, hair in a tight bun, she waits across the desk from the political
secretary of a Sri Lankan minister. But something, almost imperceptible
in the footage, goes wrong. So, as a dozen people go about their
business behind her, the woman rises from her chair, tugs at her bra
and explodes, instantly raising the Sri Lankan death toll by two.