Academic and Reference Books

The book identifies the sources and nature of threats to people belonging to ethnic groups and conceptualizes human security in a manner that addresses the inadequacy of the traditional approach. It conducts an analysis on ethnicity- and non-ethnicity-induced human security problems in the CHT of Bangladesh and the Sindh Province of Pakistan, as important areas of human security. This work deals with threats stemming from ethnicity and the resultant conflict thereof in the CHT and in Sindh.

The present volume examines the case for broadening the scope of security by breaking the rigidity brought about by traditional forms of dominant state-centric and military based security concepts and their determining matrices. The main thrust of this study is on three very critical areas, viz., (i) environmental security, (ii) food security and (iii) energy security. It deals with how gains from effective management of human security parameters get translated into enhanced security both at the macro and micro levels.

At the dawn of the 21st century the specter of terror has come to haunt the minds of the citizenary and policymakers alike. Three reasons seem to be responsible for this. Firstly, the empowering status of non-state entities. Secondly, the easy availability of deadly, weaponry, including the knowledge of turning grocery items into improvised explosive devices. And thirdly, the arrival of suicide bombers priding on civilian targets, and that again, with an aggressiveness primarily grounded in faith rather than on reason.

Sri Lanka at independence in 1948 was an oasis of stability, peace and security. It was a shining example of parliamentary democracy in the Third World. During the 1980s, however, violent ethnic conflict, emergency rule, the manipulation of the electoral process and the erosion of the welfare safety-net transformed Sri Lanka into a highly volatile locus of ethno-political conflict with severe human security deficit. The book explores the symbiotic relationship between traditional and human security in Sri Lanka in academic as well as in practical terms.