Redefining Military Engagement: Shifting From Counter Insurgency to Comprehensive Peacebuilding Mechanism in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was considered one of the most stable and secure nations among the South Asian nations. The Sri Lankan administration only came to know in the several years after independence that maintaining national security was perhaps one of the most challenging and exciting issues the country is dealing with at present. On the international level, it was accepted that the role of the military was essential not only for the protection of the nation’s security but also for the population and internal security. Whenever there is an issue of security of a country on any front, the military is seen as having an important role in defending the security of a country. However, it was expected that a very positive and strong feeling of security would be brought back to the country when the military got what it wanted in 2009, and that was to eliminate the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) in Sri Lanka. According to this, it would be appropriate to assess and consider the security trends, the peace-making activities, and the military participation of the Sri Lankan nation-state. Building on this, the present study has sought to explore in what way and how the military helped in the process of post-conflict peacebuilding. In the study, a qualitative research method was used to conduct the investigation. Secondary data was adopted for this study whereby information was collected from books, journals and government papers. As per this study, the military of Sri Lanka is not a passive bystander in the defence of the country’s security but is using both soft and hard power to ensure the preservation of security as necessary. Drawing from this study, this research brings to focus, the major problem of Sri Lanka that lacks a coordinated national security policy that needs urgent attention and appropriate intervention to protect the safety and security of the nation.