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Our Research Themes
In its programmes/activities, CSA’s emphasis has been on issues of contemporary relevance. The major themes addressed are:
-
Conflict Resolution and Peace Building.
- Civil Society and Governance
- Human
Security
-
Security linkages to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia
- Gender related issues
Conflict Resolution
and Peace Building
The end of World War II has not ended wars in
the world. In fact an undefined global war is
being enacted. In the last decade alone, two and
a half million people have died in conflicts all over the world, and
another thirty one million have been displaced, have lost their
homes and have had to flee from their villages and communities.
It is a sad but true reality that conflict is intrinsic to
South Asia. No South Asian country has been free
from conflicts over the last five decades.
India’s internal conflicts are well known.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have witnessed conflicts.
The problems in Afghanistan have already invited
world attention. Nepal, counted as a tourist
paradise has gone through a bloody political turmoil.
Even a peaceful country like Bhutan has witnessed this
phenomenon. Sri Lanka’s ethnic problem has
already caused 70,000 deaths and 800,000 displacements.
The situation has been no better in the South Asian
neighbourhood. The Central Asian states, Myanmar,
Thailand and Indonesia are also in similar conflicts.
Conflicts which are internal to a state,
originate from many sources. While international
terrorism may be one source, the older and lasting sources are
ethnic, religious, development related and ancient animosities.
The process of nation making is in itself a conflict prone
enterprise. Sustained peace after the end of
conflict is required. The way a conflict is
resolved is itself a major factor on which the peace that follows
can be built. Peace, therefore, requires an
architecture that must be built on the foundation of conflict
resolution.
Conflicts always result in human suffering in
the form of refugees or internally displaced persons.
The need to look into these issues compassionately was
appropriately highlighted to the citizens of Chennai, academics and
Government officials through a joint seminar with UNHCR on 25th
September 2004. The theme of the Seminar was
Fostering Cooperation Towards Addressing Refugee Concerns.
The participants included Mr Lennart Kotsalainen, the Chief
of Mission of UNHCR in India and Maldives and many other experts on
the subject. A seminar on Conflict Transformation
and Peace Building in South Asia was organized in collaboration with
Stella Maris College, Chennai on 18th August 2006.
Many academics from India as well as two students
participated and presented papers. Apart from
others, a large body of the student community attended.
A number of roundtable meetings which directly
or indirectly dealt with conflict resolution and peace building have
been organized with international experts. The list of
speakers includes Dr Michael Krepon, Founder President, The Henry L.
Stimson Center, Dr (Ms) Joan Rohlfing, Senior Vice President,
Nuclear Threat Initiative, Ms Teresita C. Schaffer, Former US
Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Head, South Asia Program, CSIS,
Washington, Dr Francine R. Frankel, Founding Director, Center for
the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania, Dr Stephen
P. Cohen, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution and Mr B.G. Verghese,
columnist and author.
The internal security situation in
Conflict in Sri Lanka
CSA encourages a continuing and sustained
engagement on issues linked with conflict resolution and peace
building in Sri Lanka. Peace in Sri Lanka is a
strategic security need for India. With this in
view, the CSA has so far organized a series of seminars and a number
of lectures and discussions.
One of the major events on the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka was a public lecture by Mr Chris Patten, the then Commissioner for External Relations, European Union on 27th November 2003 on Conflict Prevention and Peace Building with special reference to Sri Lanka. He emphasized the need for a political solution and also recognized the crucial importance of multilateral institutions in preventing conflict and dealing with causes of conflict.
A seminar on the theme of Conflict Resolution
and Peace Building in Sri Lanka was organized on 10th &
Another seminar on the theme of Federalism and
Conflict Resolution in Sri Lanka was organized at Colombo on 10th
and 11th May 2005. The keynote address on this
occasion was delivered by Mr. DEW Gunasekara, Minister of
Constitutional Affairs and National Integration, Government of Sri
Lanka. The purpose of the seminar was to
highlight various facets of federalism which could help the
intellectuals, political parties, academics and others in Sri Lanka.
This initiative was appreciated as a very bold
step in opening up another avenue of debate in Sri Lanka in
addressing the roots of the conflict. Mr Lakshman
Kadirgamar, the then Foreign Minister of
Seminar in
Colombo
The third seminar on Sri Lanka on the theme of
Peace Building in Sri Lanka: Challenges and Opportunities was also
organized at Colombo on 15th and 16th February 2006, just preceding
the February 2006 Geneva Peace Talks. The peace
process had been affected by several internal and external factors,
some posing serious challenges while others presenting opportunities
for possible progress. Various facets of
challenges and opportunities were analysed by four Sri Lankan and
five Indian experts. Mr Bradman Weerakoon, a
veteran bureaucrat and later a member of the SAARC Eminent Persons
Group on Human Rights delivered the keynote address.
The Indian High Commissioner, Ms Nirupama Rao attended the
inaugural session and also had informal discussions with the
participants and organizers of the Seminar.
As part of its Sri Lanka focus, the CSA
invited in April 2006 Prof. G.L. Peiris, M.P., (later Minister of
Export Development and International Trade, Government of Sri Lanka)
in April 2006 to give a series of lectures on the conflict in Sri
Lanka. He was the Chief Negotiator for the Sri
Lankan Government and was responsible for signing of the Oslo Peace
Accord. In all, four lectures were organized, one
at Chennai and three at New Delhi on 17th, 19th and 20th April 2006.
Conflict over Fisheries in the
Palk Bay Region has been the cause of misery and suffering
to a large fishing population in Tamil Nadu and Northern part of Sri
Lanka. CSA, therefore, sponsored a project to
study the problems and suggest practical approaches to solve them.
The study has been published as a book and has been made
available to concerned officials in India and Sri Lanka.
Civil Society and Governance
Good governance is central to the wellbeing of
the citizen. Equally, security is an important
dimension which links civil society and governance. A broader
understanding of security encompasses issues relating to good
governance which have a direct bearing on the citizen.
Civil society operates in the space between the citizen and
the government. A better understanding of the
linkages between civil society and governance is thus needed.
Accordingly, the CSA put together several
experts – sociologists, bureaucrats, academics and others – to
examine the relationship between governance and security at a
seminar on the theme of Civil Society & Governance in Modern India
organized on 5th &
Continuing on the theme of Civil Society &
Governance, two well received lectures were organized on
The CSA proposes to spend more energy and
effort on functioning of civil societies in South and Southeast
Asian countries and accordingly it has planned to organize a series
of International seminars and workshops to cover the experiences of
civil societies in these countries in tackling the problems of human
rights & security, improving governance, upliftment & empowerment of
the poor, peace and conflict resolution, environmental security and
social justice.
Human
Security
The term “Security” has traditionally been
perceived and understood from a military perspective and even more
so from that of the state. There is however a
growing awareness of the need to view other and non-traditional
dimensions of security which affect the lives of the citizens.
The concept of Human Security which encompasses the wellbeing
of the citizens has been accepted as more relevant to the present
times. As a consequence, Human Development
indices are now the primary barometers of human security, Security
is a matrix of components which add up to the comprehensive security
of both the state and citizen. These security
components include external and internal threats besides economic,
environmental, societal and political threats.
These combine to place the citizens’ focus on freedom from fear,
danger and threats.
The Indian citizens’ perceptions on the
totality of security available to them provide an insight into the
new and wider ideas of security. In order to
assess the citizens’ perceptions of security, CSA commissioned a
study in 2003 to understand and interpret the common man’s
perceptions on various dimensions of security threats.
In addition to macro level security threats from external and
internal sources, the micro aspects of security included dimensions
such as environmental security, political security, societal
security, personal & physical security and economic security.
The sample for the study had 2024 respondents drawn from four
metros and nine mini metros across four geographic zones and were
further categorized by gender (two categories), income levels (four
categories), and socio-economic classifications (four categories).
The initial data collected from the respondents were
subjected to detailed statistical analysis and interpretations which
are expected to aid policy makers in framing effective responses to
these perceived threats. This is the first
analysis in India specifically on public perceptions of security.
A better understanding of public perceptions on the wider
meaning of security will assist in effective policy planning,
development programmes and monitoring of their outcomes.
While the need for understanding the
comprehensive nature of security is clearly established, the
syllabus and course coverage in Indian colleges and universities on
security do not take these new concepts into account.
The CSA in collaboration with National Center of
International Security and Defence Analysis (NISDA) organized a
seminar on 22nd and
Since CSA is concentrating more on Peninsular
India, the issue of Socio-Economic Security of Peninsular India was
taken up for a major study. There has been a
widely held belief that southern or Peninsular India is well ahead
of the rest of the country in developmental, growth and
infrastructure terms. It is also believed that
Peninsular India is poised for a breakaway pattern of growth and
social development. This report, a collaborative
effort by the CSA and the Centre for Policy Alternatives Society,
subjects these assumptions to factual and data-based analysis.
The conclusions of such analysis cast serious doubts on the
prevailing impression of Peninsular India’s future.
On all major indices of growth, development, infrastructure
and social stability, a different picture emerges which should
impose caution on analysts and cause concern to policy makers and
political leadership alike. The study has been
published and made available to policy planners at Central and State
Governments in Peninsular India.
Health is an important component of Human
Security. The roundtable with Dr Kumara Rai,
Director, Communicable Disease Department, Southeast Regional Office
of the WHO, enlightened the participants on security related aspects
and concerns about SARS. The seminar on Disease
Surveillance, Challenges and Responses in Peninsular India was
reassuring as the experts gave their assessments about the
capabilities of various existing health organizations and
arrangements to tackle any spread of communicable diseases in
Southern states of India.
Security
Linkages to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia
Historically, there have been close cultural,
economic, linguistic and ethnic linkages between Peninsular India,
Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Considerable
quantum of maritime trade takes place through this region.
The countries in this region have shared values and common
problems and hence there is a need for closer association, greater
interaction, better understanding and mutual cooperation to ensure
peace and development. The CSA has accordingly
given due importance to this aspect and has provided a forum for the
experts in the region to put across their views, ideas and opinions.
The Seminar on the theme of Security
Dimensions of India and Southeast Asia organized in November 2004
analysed issues like security dimensions and concerns of the
countries in the region, maritime threats and related security
issues, regional cooperation and economic issues including regional
linkages and globalization. Apart from experts
from Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka, speakers from India
included academics, researchers and senior retired bureaucrats and
diplomats.
The Seminar held in October 2005 on the theme
of India and ASEAN: Non-traditional Security Threats had a speaker
each from Malaysia and Philippines, two from Singapore and eight
from India. The sub themes addressed were
Economic Security, Environmental Security and Ethnicity & Security.
The issues tackled by different speakers highlighted the
transborder and regional effects of such threats and the need for
greater levels of communication, understanding and joint actions.
Gender Equality and
Women’s Rights
Considering the importance of the subject, two
major seminars were organized to consider the problems and
associated issues in detail and spread awareness and sensitize
people. Good press coverage helped in spreading
the message wider.
The first seminar was organized in August 2004
on the theme of Women and Legal Security. Justice
(Mrs) Prabha Sridevan of Madras High Court delivered the keynote
address and many legal luminaries, social workers, academics and
senior serving police officials participated and addressed many
ground level practical problems.
The second seminar on the theme of Women and Comprehensive Security was organized in November 2004 and Dr Vasanthi Devi, Chairperson, Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women delivered the keynote address. The issues addressed were violence against women at home & outside, violence in time of conflict, state policy and media intervention. Leading activists, social workers and researchers from all over India participated.