Nuclear Complexities in South Asia: Sri Lanka Under the Nuclear Shadow

Sanath Chandana De Silva

This book looks at the prospects of Nuclear Complexities in South Asia and explains how it has overshadowed the security of Sri Lanka. It also reveals the reciprocal reinforcement of civil and strategic nuclear domains in the region. The book brings out how complexity leads to insecurity and why small states are entangled in this emerging reality. The book also discusses the historical development of regional nuclear programmes, ‘what’s going on’ in contemporary nuclear South Asia, and ‘where does Sri Lanka fit’ in this strategic equation. It explains the benevolent role that Sri Lanka could play as a small island state-located right in the centre stage of the Indian Ocean—to improve the stability and peace in the region. In this setting, the author sheds a ‘crude look at the whole’ situation and tries to explain the nuclear security emergences in a complex geopolitical setting.

Sanath Chandana De Silva

Dr. Sanath Chandana De Silva is a senior lecturer, currently serving as the Head of Department at the Department of Strategic Studies, Faculty of Defence and Strategic Studies, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University. He has obtained his PhD in International Relations from the Department of International Relations, University of Colombo. He is also an alumnus of the United States University of Defence, Washington DC, Daniel K Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), and East West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. De Silva is a visiting resource person at the National Defence College, Sri Lanka, Army War College, Buttala, Command and Staff College, Sapugaskanda, Sri Lanka Military Academy, Diyatalawa, and Sri Lanka Air Force Academy, China Bay. Dr. De Silva has published on South Asia’s nuclear issues and military history of Sri Lanka. He co-authored a volume titled Warfare in Sri Lanka: Military history of the Island from earliest times up to Independence in 2017. He has also co-edited a volume, Sri Lanka’s Post-independence Defence Policy: Past, Present and Future Projections, in 2023.

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Tables and Figures

Abbreviations

1. A Dangerous Place
2. Nuclear History of South Asia
3. Complexity of a Complex Region
4. Uncertainty Leading to Instability
5. Instability Leading to Insecurity
6. Sri Lanka’s Security Concerns under the Nuclear Shadow
7. The Way Forward

References

Index