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The Sovereign Shadow: National Security Coercion, Temporal Fragmentation, and the Administrative Human Rights Battle of Kagusthan Ariaratnam
This article examines the landmark administrative and human rights battle of Kagusthan Ariaratnam against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), analyzing the structural tensions between domestic national security practices and international refugee protection obligations. It addresses two fundamental questions: first, whether security agencies can leverage the legal vulnerability of refugee status to extract prolonged, coerced…
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Professor Rohan Gunaratna: Terrorism Expert? Or Intellectual Mercenary?
This article examines the commercialization of post-September 11 terrorism studies through a critical evaluation of Rohan Gunaratna’s career, framing it as a primary case study of “information speculation” and epistemic opportunism. It maps how Gunaratna systematically pivoted his threat assessments—ranging from hyper-inflated global Al-Qaeda networks for Western defense establishments to regional “octopus-like” Jemaah Islamiyah cells…
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Not Without Cause: Iran’s Mistrust of Pakistan Is Rooted in Experience
Pakistan’s mediation between the United States and Iran continues. Delegations arrive and depart from Islamabad. Communiqués describe progress, or proximity to progress, in language calibrated to neither confirm nor foreclose. The ceasefire—brokered by Pakistan on April 8, extended once at Islamabad’s request — is holding, unevenly. The process is alive. What is under serious strain…
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Nepal’s Foreign Policy at Stake: When Strategic Cooperation Becomes Strategic Dependency
There is a threshold in bilateral relationships between unequal states at which cooperation becomes structural dependency. The threshold is not marked with a sign. It passes gradually, through accumulated agreements, growing financial obligations, and deepening institutional ties that make any recalibration increasingly costly. Nepal is approaching that threshold in its relationship with China. It has…
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Ink and Iron: The Poets and Young People Jailed for Simple Tributes
Wang Juntao was a seventeen-year-old high school student when he wrote the poem that got him arrested. It was April 1976, the Qingming Festival, and he had walked to Tiananmen Square to leave verses at the Monument to the People’s Heroes in memory of Premier Zhou Enlai, who had died on January 8 of that…
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Arctic Sovereignty and the New Cold Front: Strategic Modernization and the Sino-Russian Challenge
The geopolitical equilibrium of the High North is undergoing a fundamental and irreversible transformation. For decades, the Arctic was characterized by “Arctic exceptionalism,” a shared understanding among circumpolar nations that the region should remain a zone of low tension and high cooperation, primarily governed through the consensus-based Arctic Council.5 However, the dual pressures of accelerated…
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Geopolitical Alignment or Strategic Autonomy: Sri Lanka’s Defense Posture and the 2026 Indian Ocean Crisis
The decision by the administration of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to deny the United States military access to the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in March 2026 represents a critical inflection point in the maritime security of the Indian Ocean Region. While the Colombo government maintains that this refusal was a calculated act of “strict neutrality”…
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The Geopolitical Transformation of Asymmetric Naval Warfare: From the Sri Lankan Littoral to a Grand Strategy for the Strait of Hormuz
The modern maritime security environment has undergone a fundamental shift from blue-water fleet engagements to highly complex asymmetric confrontations in the littorals. This evolution is best exemplified by the conflict between the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Sea Tigers, a non-state actor that pioneered the use of suicide…
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SADF Podcast Alert: “A Tale of Child Soldier: In Discussion with the Authors of ‘Spy Tiger 05 File’
Join us for an eye-opening episode as we delve into the harrowing yet inspiring journey of Kagusthan Ariaratnam aka Murali, a former child soldier of the LTTE. In these podcast, our host Natasha Fernando discusses with Kagusthan Ariaratnam and Michael Bramadat-Willcock, the authors of ‘Spy Tiger 05 File’ the untold stories of resilience, survival, and…
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The Automated Siege of Tehran: A Strategic Blueprint for IRGC Neutralization and Iranian Governance Transition
The geopolitical architecture of the Middle East in early 2026 has been fundamentally fractured by the commencement of Operation Epic Fury, a high-intensity, multi-domain campaign led by the United States and Israel to systematically dismantle the strategic threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.1 While the initial phases of the conflict achieved historic tactical…