Student and faculty gathered in the Battelle-Tompkins atrium to hear SIS Professor John Richardson speak about his book, "Paradise Poisoned," about Sri Lanka's civil war on Tuesday.
The night included a panel, moderated by SIS Dean Louis Goodman, which discussed Richardson's book. The panel was comprised of Goodman, Richardson, Teresita Schaeffer, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka from 1992-1995, and Ambassador Ravi Aryasinha, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Sri Lanka.
Richardson first traveled to Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1983, to attend an international conference in the city. By 1983, Richardson said that "conflict and terrorism, catalyzed by devastating ethnic riots in the capital city, had been a fact of life for more than four years."
Richardson started his book project in 1987 when he went back to Sri Lanka to teach as part of the fledgling exchange program with the University of Sri Lanka in Colombo.
It took Richardson over 18 years of research and writing, 15 research assistants and three sabbatical leaves to complete his book, he said.
Since its publication, "Paradise Poisoned" has taken Richardson on a world tour, with stops including Colombo, India, Austria, Hungary, and now, American University.
Richardson cited this panel as an especially unique event, as it afforded him the opportunity to "give a presentation to the community and to the institution that have supported my attempts to create, disseminate and apply new knowledge for more than 30 years."
In "Paradise Poisoned," Richardson not only outlines the issues of terrorism, poverty, famine, illiteracy, and AIDS that have plagued the country of Sri Lanka for over 20 years, but also included possible means of improvement.
Marie Carter, a senior in the School of International Service, attended this panel hoping to gain new knowledge about Sri Lanka, a country she has applied to visit this summer.
"I think it's important to see peace-building above and beyond theory, and hear from people who are working on it right now in the field," Carter said. "I think opportunities like this are so much greater than just being in class."
The panel ended with comments by Ambassadors Schaeffer and Aryasinha as well as questions from the audience.
Policy recommendations for Sri Lanka
- Among the 10 policy recommendations, Professor-in-residence John Richardson highlighted those he considered to be of utmost importance: - Maintaining public order and preventing social turbulence for an escalating conflict - Use of polarizing political rhetoric and tactics must be frowned upon, however tempting their short-term benefits might be - Meeting the needs and aspirations of fighting-age young men - Developing countries should have internal security forces, both police and paramilitary, that are generously funded, professional, and apolitical - Multi-national corporations and businesses should play a more active role in defining and supporting successful development policy
