Social Sciences
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Item Intra-Regional Tourism as a Soft Power tool of Small States: Comparative Study of Sri Lanka and Cambodia(International Conference on Applied Social Statistics (ICASS) - 2019, Department of Social Statistics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2019) Wijesinghe, H.It is beyond doubt that power is recognized as one of the central yet problematic concepts in international relations. As identified by Joseph Nye, power is like weather. Everyone depends on it and talks about it, but few understands it (2004, p.04). Power can be simply defined as the ability to achieve one’s purposes and goals. In his epic work, “Politics among Nations” Hans J Morgenthau proclaims that international politics like all politics is a struggle for power. Whatever the ultimate aim of international politics, power is always the immediate aim (Morgenthau, 1948, p.13). Nye (2004) distinguishes between two forms of power, namely soft power and hard power. According to him, hard power refers to the ability to use the carrots and sticks of economic and military might to make others follow your will (ibid). On the other hand, soft power is defined as the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payment, which includes culture, values and foreign policies. Soft power rests on the ability to set the political agenda in a way that shapes the preferences of others (ibid). According to Chang (2007), soft power is emerging and getting more influential in today’s global information space and it has less hard support. As far as small states are concerned, while there is so much literature available on small states, there is no consensus when it comes to defining small states. According to Chang (2007), small states suffer from a definitional problem in both theory and political practice. However, for the purpose of the study, a small state is defined as a state which can never act alone and make a significant impact on the international system, using its quantitative or tangible elements of power. This inability to influence and attract the international community through tangible elements of power has made small states rely more on soft power as a source of influencing the international community and attaining national interests. As one of the world’s largest economic sectors, travel and tourism creates jobs, drives exports, and generates prosperity across the world (WTTC, 2018). As far as Cambodia and Sri Lanka are concerned, both countries rely heavily on tourism industry. Looking at the numbers, over the years the number of tourists visiting both the countries have increased significantly. Against this backdrop, the main objective of this study is to examine the relevance of intra-regional tourism for small states like Cambodia and Sri Lanka. It compares the where these two countries stand in the context of promoting and attracting tourists from their own regions.Item The Growing Need for a SAARC-ASEAN Platform: South Asian Perspective(Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Wijesinghe, H.Despite the fact that, today we are living in the Asian century, and the center of global economic gravity is shifting towards the Asia, not adequate effort has been made at all levels in understanding and discovering the possibilities and prospects of constructing a common platform on which SAARC and ASEAN as two regional setups can work collectively for realizing common objectives. As both the regions are on the track for attaining greater political stability and economic success, efficient and effective SAARC-ASEAN cooperation would provide an ideal multilateral mechanism for member states of both ASEAN and SAARC to pursue their political, economic and social gains and to attain a powerful position in the international arena. From a South Asian perspective, increasing ties with the ASEAN member states would be a golden opportunity for the South Asian countries to expand its regional scope and yield better results. Can these two regional setups, which are at different levels of regional integration join hands and be on a common platform? What are the main challenges to be overcome if such platform is to be created? And how South Asia would be benefitted through such a platform? These are the main questions which would be attempted to answer through the study. The study consists of two main objectives. First, the study attempts to analyze the prospects and challenges to be overcome in the context of creating a SAARC-ASEAN platform for greater political, economic, social and cultural cohesion. Secondly, the study shall look into how such a platform affects South Asia as a region. In order to gain the in depth knowledge required for the study, a comparative study of SAARC and ASEAN is done with interviews with individuals having a greater bearing on the foretold objectives. In order to attain the first of the foretold objectives, the study has made a SWOT analysis where it looks into strengths which could be strengthened further, weaknesses to be rectified, opportunities to be grabbed and work on and threats to be deterred in the context of strengthening SAARC-ASEAN relations. Basically, the study results reflect the fact, despite the inadequate enthusiasm shown and efforts made, there is a wealth of opportunities and space for creating a common platform what would mutually benefit both the groups and especially for SAARC it would also be a learning curve for strengthening relations among its member states.