A reimagination of what national security means and, thereby, encompasses for Sri Lanka is vital to better encapsulate and understand the contemporary security concerns that it faces. This Brief calls for a reimagination of national security that necessitates securing the territorial sovereignty of the state whilst simultaneously securing its constituents as well, thereby defining national security as ‘a low probability of damage to the acquired values of the state and its constituents, and the absence of fear that such values will be attacked’. This is a synthesis between the traditional and human security approaches, the former entailing the security of the territorially sovereign state with the latter prioritising the individual welfare of the constituents of the state with respect to the seven core values of economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security.
The value here is two-fold. Firstly, it is recognised that securing the territorial sovereignty of the state does not necessarily secure its people, though it is a prerequisite for doing so as ensuring the protection of any of the seven core values of the human security approach would not be possible if the territorial sovereignty of the state was compromised. Secondly, the human security approach allows for addressing many contemporary security concerns that fall outside the scope of the traditional security approach.
Such an approach in Sri Lanka’s present context translates to several key areas of consideration, namely: terrorism; extremism and conflict resurgence; defence expenditure and the armed forces; cyberspace; climate change; the economy and regional geopolitics. In order to counter terrorism effectively the National Security Council, as the apex national security decision-making body, must be given statutory basis and its own secretariat that is led by a National Security Advisor. Additionally, a legal framework, alongside a judicial or quasi-judicial enforcing body, providing for surveillance powers under certain conditions should be established. It is also imperative that the Prevention of Terrorism Act be repealed in favour of counter-terrorism legislation in line with international best practices and Sri Lanka’s obligations under international human rights law. Lastly, the need for a Public Prosecutor’s office that is separate and independent of the government having the sole responsibility to indict and prosecute gained further currency in the wake of culpability in the Easter Sunday Attacks of 2019.
Sri Lanka is no stranger to extremism and conflict, and so shrinking the space for extremism and conflict resurgence is crucial. Therefore, addressing the push and pull factors for extremism is a must. This entails ensuring: the independent and impartial functioning of the public service, law enforcement, and the judiciary; equality of opportunity in recruitment and nominations to government bodies and institutions regardless of religious, ethnic, linguistic, and/or cultural background; government bodies and institutions having some representation of the stakeholders affected by its objectives. Moreover, civic, cross-cultural, and cross-religious education in primary and secondary educational institutions is an imperative to create a citizenry that is respectful of human rights, democracy, and Sri Lanka’s religious, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity. Furthermore, the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech must be mitigated and those responsible for it and other acts of extremism must be held accountable. Lastly, an effective system of provincial devolution would be valuable in addressing a continuing ethnoreligious grievance that was at the heart of Sri Lanka’s protracted and brutal civil war.
The excessive and wasteful expenditure on defence must be reduced and optimised. This involves reducing the number of active-duty troops and increasing the number of reserves by curtailing recruitment and a voluntary retirement scheme where those that do retire but need alternative employment are aided in that transition. Additionally, the lion’s share of resources must be redirected from the army to the navy as the sea is the frontier of defence for Sri Lanka. This has spillover benefits for addressing maritime piracy and terrorism, human and drug trafficking, and IUU fishing as the navy would be better resourced. Relatedly, addressing the challenges of cyberspace requires improving the cybersecurity capabilities of the military, in addition to the government needing to enhance its cybersecurity capabilities to protect its digital infrastructure, as the increased incorporation of digital development into conventional military hardware brings with it vulnerabilities that can be the target of a cyberattack. The military should also establish a branch dedicated to threats emanating from cyberspace. Moreover, the government must also develop new and/or update national policy and legislation on subjects pertaining to cyberspace.
The threat that climate change poses to national security cannot be exaggerated. It is an issue that necessitates greater pragmatism in policy formulation and, as it is a cross-cutting issue across government, extensive coordination in policy implementation. Furthermore, given Sri Lanka’s heightened vulnerability to the impacts of climate change there is a need to prioritise conservation and climate change adaptation over mitigation. Both conservation and adaptation efforts would benefit from decentralised governance through the devolution of powers to the provinces as the provincial level is closer to the people and better situated to understand the unique challenges each province faces. Relatedly, in order to pursue sustainable development whilst aiding Sri Lanka’s recovery from national insolvency, green finance and the blue economy represent engines of growth for the Sri Lankan economy.
Finally, in navigating the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Sri Lanka must tread carefully to ensure that it is not dependent on a single state or bloc for its economic recovery and development to prevent undue external influence over the country. Additionally, a Parliamentary Select Committee for foreign policy formulation and revision should be established for a more bipartisan and consistent Sri Lankan foreign policy alongside an effective foreign service that has the capacity to expand and build on Sri Lanka’s relationships with other countries. The latter requires the foreign service to be depoliticised, and better staffed and resourced. Lastly, legislation on political financing must be strengthened to limit the role of foreign powers financing election campaigns in Sri Lanka with state intelligence services having the capacity to enforce such legislation.
By no means is this an exhaustive list of what should be taken into consideration nor do the recommendations wholly address what should be done in any of these areas. However, they do demonstrate the scope of issues that are relevant to the reimagined conception of national security asserted in this Brief, the similarities and differences in how these issues affect the Sri Lankan state and the Sri Lankan people respectively, and how these issues interact and relate to each other.
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