The Importance Of A Balanced And Principled Foreign Policy
August 8, 2013 
Jayantha Dhanapala
The unflattering publicity Sri Lanka has received internationally in the lead up to and after the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva in March 2013, and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) meeting in London in April, is indicative of a significant failure of the Sri Lanka Government to exploit the opportunities of peace and reconciliation opened up by the end of the conflict. This failure is exacerbated by the deficiencies of its current foreign policy. Direction, depth, consistency and coherence are conspicuously absent in a series of ad-hoc decisions implemented by a staff riddled with mediocre political appointees at all levels.
In the globalized multi-polar world we now live in, we are called upon to interact pragmatically with other states, international organizations and non-state actors. In order to maximize the benefits of such an interaction, we do need to pursue a foreign policy that is balanced, principled and based on enlightened self interest.
It was, by and large, such a balanced, pragmatic and sagacious foreign policy that enabled Sri Lanka in the first three decades of post- Independence history, to exert an influence in the international arena disproportionate to her size despite a pro-Western tilt in the early stages and other inadequacies.
The environment with regard to foreign policy formulation and implementation changed dramatically during the 1980s largely on account of the long, festering and brutalizing conflict between the state and the separatist terrorist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the consequent deterioration of our foreign policy mechanisms into a defensive mode. Four years after the military victory of the Government over the LTTE we remain in that defensive mode failing to take advantage of the vast opportunities of peace and reconciliation accompanied by an intelligently conceived foreign policy conducted professionally.
Sri Lanka is scheduled to host the Commonwealth Summit in November. Canada’s Prime Minister is on record that he will not attend. The Canadian Government attempted to persuade the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) that met in London in April to evaluate the Sri Lanka Government’s human rights record on account of alleged transgressions of the Latimer House rules. Although diplomatic deals appear for the moment to have helped ward off an embarrassing change of CHOGM venue, the ultimate decision in this regard rests with the Commonwealth Heads of Government. November is some distance away and many developments are possible especially with domestic developments in Sri Lanka focusing on a fresh debate over the 13th Amendment, campaigns against minorities, suppression of dissent with lethal violence and a deteriorating law and order situation. At the same time we must beware of window-dressing before the Summit.
