ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the global, regional, and conceptual and theoretical frameworks for the Sri Lankan case study. It addresses the principal features of the Sri Lankan conflict including the demographic context, historical roots, causes, conflict resolution, and transition from peaceful political discourse to terrorism and then to insurgency and finally to civil war. The chapter deals with three major questions associated with the conflict: terrorism, the issue of “Failed State,” and peace initiatives. It reviews the end of the war and its aftermath. Part 5 deals with what Sri Lanka can realistically look forward to in the next several years. Economic globalization has been much steadier. There is no serious challenge to the market economy model that almost every country has adopted. Sri Lanka’s immediate neighbor to the north, India, is the most important part of the regional context to understand Sri Lanka’s experience with terrorism, insurgency, civil war, and its aftermath.
