Mark Salter Writer, Researcher, Consultant

Writing

Articles & commentary

168 pieces since 2015, on Sri Lanka, Europe, migration, peace processes and more.

2025 15

  • The Great Divide

    Here's my latest piece of Sri Lankan political commentary for the DailyFT. It addresses the recent arrest of former president Ranil Wickremesinghe on alleged corruption…

  • ‘Unsilenced’: Neelan Tiruchelvam revisited

    Here's my review, published today in Sri Lanka's DailyFT, of a new documentary about the life - and death - of the courageous and farsighted Tamil intellectual cum…

  • The New Book

    Here's a longish and rather nice Lankan media prequel to my new/forthcoming book, drawing on an interview I did recently for Jurist.org. Ceylon Today, 9 June 2025 (PDF)

  • The Red Banner: Still Flying Here?

    In Sri Lanka as everywhere 1 May – Labour Day – 2025 is now a thing of the past. Except not in Colombo, largely thanks to the image reproduced above of President…

  • The Illegals

    I’d heard rumours of this story a while time back: but nothing prepared me for the reality presented in The Guardian correspondent Shaun Walker’s new book, The Illegals…

  • Jurist Interview

    An interview pegged to my forthcoming modern history of Sri Lanka with Jurist, an online review for US law students and professionals, has just been published. Here it…

  • The Great Lenin Makeover

    Even though I never made it to the original Lenin Museum in Tampere (wish I had), over the years I've heard plenty about the place. Following a major facelift the museum…

  • The Great Elk Migration

    Starting on Swedish TV (SVT) this week, earlier than usual due to warmer April weather: a livestream of northern Sweden's annual 'Great Elk Migration' (Den Stora…

  • South Asian domestic worker's suffering in Lebanon: another Gaza fallout

    By the end of 2024 the Gazan conflict had also enveloped Lebanon, a country with a large number of migrant workers, many from South Asia. Following Israeli airstrikes in…

  • UK moves on Sri Lankan accountability

    The British government has announced that it is placing sanctions on a four individuals alleged to have command responsibility for crimes committed during Sri Lanka's…

  • Colombo Telegraph

    The Colombo Telegraph has just published my latest Sri Lanka commentary. Here it is: colombotelegraph.com/index.php/fixing-sri-lankas-economy-a-governance-approach/

  • Fixing Sri Lanka’s economy: a governance approach

    Ever since Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic meltdown, it has been popular – if not the mainstream consensus - to argue that the country’s travails are chiefly the result of…

  • Pause AI Development - Before It's Too late

    This just in from my son Jonathan Salter on why AI development needs to be paused (not stopped) - as a matter of existential urgency for us humans. (Here's the English…

  • While the site was down . . . .

    During the years my website was down I did manage to post reasonably on my professional Facebook page. Here is the link:

  • Return of the Website

    Following a somewhat lengthy interval, my website is finally returning to action: with this new book announcement. From Independence to Aragalaya: A Modern History of…

2018 2

2017 13

  • The UN: failing the Rohingyas?

    The UN: failing the Rohingyas? More than 500,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar "The government knows how to use us and to manipulate us and they keep on doing it - we never…

  • (Another) Sri Lanka Book Review

    (Another) Sri Lanka Book Review Here's a new - and as it happens, rather complimentary - review of my Sri Lanka book by noted academic and South Asian regional…

  • Brexit's murky underbelly: increasing arms sales to repressive regimes

    Brexit's murky underbelly: increasing arms sales to repressive regimes On the back of Brexit, new research by the Campaign Against The Arms Trade (CAAT) points to the…

  • Rohingya Resources

    Rohingya Resources My publisher Hurst released this book on Myanmar's ~~Rohingya Mulsim minority a year back. In the light of current developments it appears to be…

  • New Sri Lanka Book Review

    New Sri Lanka Book Review This just in from Shweta Singh, Assistant Professor at the South Asian University, Delhi: For those of you interested in the politics of Sri…

  • Should Aung San Suu Kyi keep her Nobel peace prize?

    Should Aung San Suu Kyi keep her Nobel peace prize? Strong argument from the UK Guardian columnist George Monbiot for a move that would definitely prove anathema among…

  • The Secret History of the Banking Crisis

    The Secret History of the Banking Crisis Riveting, accessible account of the 2008 financial crisis and the hush-hush 'swapline' system between the US Fed and a select…

  • Canada's approach to immigration: how (and why) it works

    Canada's approach to immigration: how (and why) it works Good, balanced analysis of Canada's approach to immigration - and the lessons it holds for Brexit Britian (and…

  • Scotland: Normal nation, neurotic neighbour

    Here's a brilliant piece from veteran writer and commentator Neal Ascherson on the age-old problématique of Anglo-Scottish relations. Required pre-election reading both…

  • Pachyderm Paradise

    Pachyderm Paradise Here's the venerable decorated elephant - tusker as it's known locally - fronting the procession at this year's Navam Perahera festival in Colombo.…

  • 'In The Cage, Trying To Get Out'

    'In The Cage, Trying To Get Out' Imagno/Getty Images Herschel Grynszpan at his first interrogation, one day after he shot the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath at the…

  • Cuba: the paradox of US foreign policy

    Cuba: the paradox of US foreign policy Here is a convincing recent thinkpiece from Isabel Hilton, published in Prospect, on the paradoxical role implacable US opposition…

  • Gdansk: open to migration and diversity

    Gdansk: open to migration and diversity Here's a short video about an excellent initiative recently launched by a long-standing favourite city of mine. Niech zyie Gdańsk!

2016 75

  • Sri Lanka: The Nation In Question

    Sri Lanka: The Nation In Question Here is my latest piece, a review of some recent books about Sri Lanka published in the Ceylon Today newspaper. Mark Salter, 29/12/2017…

  • Siege of Aleppo: many truths to tell?

    Siege of Aleppo: many truths to tell? Robert Fisk, iconoclastic as ever: this time on Syria. Some of his argument here - that the rebels in Aleppo include a large number…

  • Colombia Needs Help to Make Peace Last

    Colombia Needs Help to Make Peace Last Here's a strong appeal to the international community from the US special envoy to the country to help make Colombia's final peace…

  • The crisis of multilateralism and the future of humanitarian action

    Vigorous think piece by one of the authors of the forthcoming 'Planning from the Future' report. Strong on diagnosis of the weaknesses of the current system, even if…

  • Advice for Young Muslims

    Advice for Young Muslims Here's an excellent excerpt from a new book of letters to his son by a senior UAE diplomant. Sane and compassionate, amounting to nothing less…

  • 'Hail Trump!'

    'Hail Trump!' “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!” The audience's Nazi salutes grabbed the headlines, but just listen carefully to self-proclaimed 'Alt. Right'…

  • Messing up on Mahinda

    Messing up on Mahinda It feels a little odd to be sharing my latest Sri Lanka thinkpiece, published this morning, on a day when focus is very much on the other side of…

  • An ugly victory

    An ugly victory This is not a moment when considered analysis or reaction comes easily. But this piece makes a pretty good stab at attempting to understand the…

  • Brexit And After

    Here's my latest column for The Indian Economist: Was Brexit An Emotional Decision? A recent visit to Britain produced plenty to think about. Over four months since the…

  • War is peace: on bombing Syria aid convoys

    War is peace: on bombing Syria aid convoys Sovietspeak is still alive and well, it seems. The Russian Foreign Ministry is claiming that the nearly 20 Aleppo aid convoy…

  • Norway and Sri Lanka’s Peace Process: towards an honest assessment

    Norway and Sri Lanka’s Peace Process: Towards an honest assessment The debate on Norway's role in Sri Lanka's utimately failed peace process continues. My latest…

  • On Being Mark Salter

    Here's my latest piece. This time with a rather different focus from my usual fare. On Being Mark Salter Presidential Elections in America: And a rather interesting case…

  • Reconciliation and Peace Processes

    Reconciliation and Peace Processes A new issue of Conciliation Resource's Accord Insight Series, titled 'Reconciliation and Peace Processes', is just out. Now the…

  • Staying On Message

    Another week, another round in the recent debate in the columns of Sri Lanka's The Island into which I've unwittingly been dragged. At any rate, with any luck the…

  • Norway in Sri Lanka: in defence of negotiations

    Norway in Sri Lanka: in defence of negotiations Here's the latest installment of my contribution to a debate that's been raging in the coloumns of Sri Lanka's The Island…

  • A Long Watch: The Capture of Commodore Boyagoda

    A Long Watch: The Capture of Commodore Boyagoda Here is a sensitive, thoughtful account of how her fascinating new book came to be by authoress Sunila Galiappatti. The…

  • Norway's ‘Secrets’ are No Secret

    Norway ‘Secrets’ are No Secret Post summer holidays and I find myself once again responding to revisionist accounts of the Norwegian's engagement in the Sri Lankan peace…

  • Reconciliation: Two Views

    Reconciliation: Two Views ---------------------------------------- Here's the 1 July edition of Ceylon Today. UK Minister at the top of the page - yours truly at the…

  • Sri Lanka: Why the Search for Reconciliation Remains a Must

    Sri Lanka: Why the Search for Reconciliation Remains a Must Here's the first edition of my new monthly column for The Indian Economist In a brief glance away from the…

  • Churchill puts the case for a United Europe

    Churchill puts the case for a United Europe Listen to the voice of Winston Churchill, one of the European Union's spiritual founding fathers speaking in support of a…

  • The Brexit fantasy is about to come crashing down

    The Brexit fantasy is about to come crashing down Here from Fintan O'Toole of The Irish Times comes perhaps the best dissection I've seen so far of what's been smashed…

  • Brexit or Bremain? Keep connected and inclusive, not angry and isolated

    Brexit or Bremain? Keep connected and inclusive, not angry and isolated There's a rousing editorial arguing passionately in favour of the UK remaining in the EU in this…

  • EU referendum: the paradox of true sovereignty points to Remain

    EU referendum: the paradox of true sovereignty points to Remain My brother Tom's feisty UK EU referendum thinkpiece just published by openDemocracy: Retaining European…

  • When Nelson Met Ali

    When Nelson Met Ali A great image from when Muhammed Ali and Nelson Mandela met in 2005, included in a recent BBC feature titled 'Ali's love affair with Africa'. Nelson…

  • One-on-one with Donald Trump

    One-on-one with Donald Trump Ready to be terrified? Then watch this segment from a recent CNN interview with US Presidential hopeful, Mr Donald Trump. Deeply, truly…

  • Basic Income: landmark vote looms in Switzerland

    The 'basic income' proposal Switzerland is voting on this weekend will probably fall at the polls this time. But it's an approach to regulating the work - life balance…

  • The Muslim nation that saved Jews

    The Muslim nation that saved Jews Lime Basha's family hid three Jewish brothers in their home during WWII (Norman Gershman) This is an account of an extraordinary and …

  • Seven Years On from the War's End: Heartache & Desolation in Sri Lanka

    Seven years on from the brutal ending to Sri Lanka's civil war, here is some moving footage from one of comemmorations now finally allowed to take part in Mullivaikal…

  • Soviet History Returns - to Eurovision 2016

    Soviet History Returns - to Eurovision 2016 Ukraine's Eurovision 2016 entry: '1844', a powerful song about Stalin's deportations of Crimean Tartars that year in revenge…

  • Democracies end when they are too democratic

    Here's a brilliant, chastening dissection of Trump's tyranny-in-the-making from Andrew Sullivan, writing in the New York Magazine It's framed by a searing analysis of…

  • Papa Wemba: musical king of the Society of Ambianceurs and Elegant People

    Here is my brother Tom's alternately lyrical and learned tribute to the great Congolese singer Papa Wemba, who died after collapsing on stage in Abidjan earlier this…

  • Bombay: Music and Heartbreak

    Bombay: Music and Heartbreak Final port of call at this year's Stockholm Indian Film Festival: Nachom-ia Kumpasar, a bittersweet, tenderly observed Konkani work that…

  • 'Arshinagar' at the Stockholm Indian Film Festival

    'Arshinagar' at the Stockholm Indian Film Festival Think Mumbai slum meets West Side Story meets the delicate tightrope of Hindu-Muslim relations . . that at least gives…

  • Trump’s Putin Fantasy

    Here's noted US historian Timothy Snyder's excellent dissection of what a Donald Trump victory in forthcoming presidential elections would mean for US-Russian relations…

  • Nonsense About Norwegians: The Struggle Continues

    Another week ...and yet again the need to counter a particularly fatuous 'review' of my Sri Lanka book that featured on the pages of The Island newspaper last week…

  • The war on terror: an interim report

    With Obama reiterating gung-ho visions of the imminent/inevitable defeat of global terrorism - focused on the growing presence of IS in Libya this time round - this is a…

  • Confusion Reigns: Roberts On The Sri Lankan Conflict's Final Stages

    Here's my latest effort to rebuff some of the nonsense peddled about the Sri Lankan conflict - in this instance pulling my recent book into the morass. Confusion Reigns…

  • Sri Lanka: in defence of Oslo

    Sri Lanka: in defence of Oslo Another week - and another rebuttal letter published as a full page feature in Sri Lankan newspaper The Island. Wonder how long I can keep…

  • Amnesty International charges Turkey with 'illegally returning Syrian refugees'

    "In their desperation to seal their borders EU leaders have wilfully ignored the simplest of facts: Turkey is not a safe country for Syrian refugees and is getting less…

  • NATO in Sri Lanka?

    The Island gives a front page slot my latest response to their absurdly slanted (and continuing) coverage of Norway's peace facilitation role in the Sri Lankan conflict.…

  • Poland approves large-scale logging in Europe's last primeval forest

    Anyone who's ever visited this amazing primeval forest - the last such left in Europe - home to both its native bison and an amazing array of flora and fauna, knows this…

  • IS in Europe: The Race to the Death

    Former ISIS commander Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who ordered fighters to 'shoot into crowds' of civilians Here's a revealing BBC Panorama backgrounder on the continuing…

  • Film of The Colombo Book Launch

    Film of The Colombo Book Launch The video quality isn't exactly pristine, but the audio is actually pretty good - certainly more than enough to catch the main contours…

  • CR Joint Analysis Workshop Report

    CR Joint Analysis Workshop Report Here's my report from a recent Conciliation Resources 'Joint Analysis Workshop' held in the context of the 'Peacebuiling and…

  • 'Killing Rajiv Gandhi Was the LTTE's Biggest Mistake'

    Here's an India-focused report from the recent launch of my Sri Lanka book in New Delhi. 'Killing Rajiv Gandhi Was LTTE's Biggest Mistake', Leader Reportedly Said All…

  • Rejecting 'point scoring' on the Sri Lankan conflict

    Rejecting 'point scoring' on the Sri Lankan conflict In response newspaper The Island's report of my recent Colombo book launch event, earlier this week I sent in this…

  • Joint Analysis Workshop Report

    CR Joint Analysis Workshop My report from the recent Conciliation Resources Workshop on 'Peacebuiling and Reconciliation'.Great video interviews with some key…

  • Sudar Oli Interview

    Sudar Oli Interview Well, I'm simply going to have to trust the veracity of this interview - although given the obvious quality of Sudar Oli Editor Arun Arokianathan who…

  • Delhi Book Launch

    Delhi Book Launch (9 March) The final Indian launch for my new book on Sri Lanka, held at the India International Centre in Delhi. High-level panel and group of…

  • Chennai Book Launch

    Chennai Book Launch (8 March) Good turnout and strong panel contributions from Erik Solheim, N. Ram (Editor in Chief, The Hindu) and Gopalkrishna Gandhi (Ex-W. Bengal…

  • Colombo book launch

    3 March book launch at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) in Colombo. Full house, stimulating panel, and a feisty discussion!

  • Continuing need for international presence in Sri Lanka

    Thoughtful coverage of the recent Colombo launch of my Sri Lanka book from event panelist Jehan Perera of the National Peace Council. It comes in his weekly column for…

  • The Hindu on Chennai Book Launch

    The Hindu on Chennai Book Launch They're coming thick(ish) and fast(ish.... The Hindu's report on last week's Chennai launch of my Sri Lanka book. Very strong panel at…

  • 'Killing Rajiv Gandhi was the LTTE's biggest mistake' - Delhi launch report

    Here's Narayan Swamy's report from last week's Delhi book launch. And it's India & LTTE - not Sri Lanka itself - that are very much in focus . . . 'Killing Rajiv Gandhi…

  • Chennai Book Launch

    Chennai Book Launch Looking forward to this evening's book launch here in Chennai with Erik Solheim, The Hindu's Editor in Chief Ram Narasimhan, Ex-West Bengal Governor…

  • UNHRC Report: Increasingly Complex and Widening Conflicts Take Huge Toll on Children in 2015

    UNHRC Report: Increasingly Complex and Widening Conflicts Take Huge Toll on Children in 2015 Increasingly complex and widening conflicts have taken a huge toll on…

  • The Island on Washington DC Book Launch

    The Island on Washington DC Book Launch Here's some nice publicity for the book in yesterday's edition of one of Sri Lanka's best-established newspapers. Only shame is…

  • The UN Human Rights Commissioner visits Sri Lanka

    The UN Human Rights Commissioner visits Sri Lanka UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Hussein has just wrapped up a four day visit to Sri Lanka. During the course of his…

  • L'oignon no more

    L'oignon no more Quelle abômination! No wonder the ‪‎JeSuisCirconflexe‬ hashtag is already spreading comme la foudre . . . And what on earth comes next? A friend…

  • One Year of 'Yahapalanaya' in Sri Lanka: Transitional Justice in Crisis?

    One Year of 'Yahapalanaya' in Sri Lanka: Transitional Justice in Crisis? Here's an excellent Groundviews analysis from Niran Anketell - well informed for once by…

  • Sverige: here's 1 of 1000 reasons not to abandon your asylum policies

    Sverige: here's 1 of 1000 reasons not to abandon your asylum policies Encountered on my way back from the swimming pool: this Sunday afternoon demo. Look hard and you'll…

  • This Is London: Life And Death In The World City

    This Is London: Life And Death In The World City Brilliant, incisive-as-ever essay excerpted from Ben Judah's new book on London today published in the February 2016…

  • 'I want to feel proud of Denmark, but it’s not easy'

    'I want to feel proud of Denmark, but it’s not easy' Syrian refugees arrive at Copenhagen’s main station. Photo: Ole Jensen/Demotix/Corbis A new Danish law allowing…

  • ‘Policed multiculturalism’ and predicting disaster

    ‘Policed multiculturalism’ and predicting disaster Police in Paris. Demotix/ Cesar Dezfuli. All rights reserved. Long but excellent interview with a European academic…

  • #RhodesMustFall: A Movement for Historical and Contemporary Recognition of Racial Injustice

    This just in from my old Oxford college. The Times They Are A' Changin' . . . The Rhodes Must Fall movement began in South Africa and has now spread to the UK. In the…

  • Now out: 'To End A Civil War' Kindle Edition

    This just in from my publishers Hurst: the ebook versions of my book 'To End A Civil War' are now live globally across all platforms. Apparently the easiest way to find…

  • ES interviewed at Ottawa book launch: step up to the plate, Canada!

    Chief of aid donor group urges funding boost Erik Solheim, chair of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee, speaks…

  • Tamil Guardian's Twitter Feed From Washington DC Book Launch

    Tamil Guardian ‏~@~TamilGuardian 1. Live tweeting from the ~@~AtlanticCouncil event on foreign intervention in ~~srilanka with ~@~SolheimDAC and @marsal61 Panel begins…

  • Solheim Calls On Diaspora To Work For Peace

    Interview with Erik Solheim and myself at the 14 January Toronto launch of my new book. Solheim Calls On Diaspora To Work For Peace by Ranjit Bhaskar in Toronto The Sri…

  • Why my novel is banned from Israeli school curricula: Dorit Rabinyan

    Excellent BBC interview with in-the-news Israeli authoress Dorit Rabinyan in which she gives a concise, clear - and in my view truthful - account of the reasons the…

  • Jews and Arabs kiss in response to Israeli book ban

    Time Out Tel Aviv's great video response to the Iaraeli Education Ministry's recent book ban. Go for it, guys n' gals!

  • Ottawa launch event

    For details of the book launch event scheduled for next Wednesday (13 January) in Ottawa visit the links (English and French) below. As at the other North American…

  • London Book Launch: The Film

    Here the link to the film of my new book's late-October 2015 London launch, held at the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS). Also in attendance were Erik…

  • Washington DC Book Launch

    - Share on Twitter Here are the details of next Thursday (14 January)'s launch event for my new book on Sri Lanka, at the Atlantic Council building. All present in the…

  • Sri Lanka: Rajapaksa wanted a closed-door deal with Prabhakaran

    Here's a recent interview I did on the Tamil IBC TV channel. The subject was - unsurprisingly - my new book on the Norwegian peace effort in Sri Lanka. Equally…

2015 63

  • North American Book Launches: First Stop Toronto

    Here's the flyer for the first of a series of events scheduled in January to launch my new book in North America: pending release by U.S. customs, the N. American…

  • Paris’s Bataclan Generation: “This is our struggle, not yours”

    Here's a really stimulating piece examining French youth attitudes in the aftermath of the November terror attacks on Paris - attacks that as author, novelist and…

  • Why people move: understanding drivers and trends of migration to Europe

    This just in. Some essential Christmas reading: Why people move: understanding the drivers and trends of migration to Europe December 2015. Clare Cummings, Julia…

  • Sein und Zeit

    A thought prompted by a recent tweet I enountered. Imagine if the English-language title of Heidegger's masterpiece really HAD been 'Being On Time'. Would that mean that…

  • Meanwhile in Baghdad , , ,

    Just now I find myself @ the Racheed Hotel, located inside Baghdad's so-called 'Green Zone'. An Iranian fighter pilot's devestating early 1980s suicide crash into the…

  • Bombing Isis is not enough – we’ll need to talk to them too

    Here's a useful think piece from Jonathan Powell arguing strongly that Western governments need both to understand and accept that sooner or later, dialogue with ISIS…

  • 'RAF to look for any unbombed bits of Syria'

    I was going to post this piece of Daily Mash political satire 2 days ago. And now it seems even more appropriate. DAVID Cameron has called on Britain to flatten the last…

  • 'Raqqa is being Slaughtered Silently'

    From a BBC news report this morning: 'Raqqa is being Slaughtered Silently' says a citizen journalist group in the IS stronghold The group said on Twitter that it opposed…

  • Forbidden Photos of Everyday Life in East Germany

    Are you tempted? This sign, from a hotel in Kühlungsborn on the GDR coast, 1987, reads "We're Looking Forward to Your Visit". Enough said ..... Then this memorable…

  • ISIS executes 3,500 in Syria since declaring 'caliphate'

    An insight into the nature of the beast: over 400 of those killed by ISIS since June are reportedly their own forces - executed for 'spying'. And over 2000 - a clear…

  • France and England soccer fans unite to sing 'La Marseillaise'

    It's all been stage-managed to a degree: some of the French players aren't singing; and 'RIP La France' - as one placard proclaims - seems a monumentally inappropriate…

  • More book extracts in Ceylon Today

    Here's an article published in Ceylon Today (15 November 2015) focused around extensive extracts from my new book - albeit on aspects of the story of Norwegian…

  • IS attacks and not playing their game

    If there is a reliable strategic purpose to terrorism it is simply this: to shake things up. To change things. To kick over the table and play a different game instead.…

  • UK Daily Telegraph on Sweden's migration crisis

    There's some simplification, more than a few touches of stereotyping and hyperbole: it doesn't offer any solutions; and it comes from a traditionally robustly…

  • Edward Snowden: in defence of freedom

    Long, utterly brilliant Lena Sundström interview with Edward Snowden in today's Dagens Nyheter. (Available in Swedish & English). Covers all the main issues raised by…

  • Oslo Launch Report

    Some good photos and a brief report (in Tamil) by Sarawanan Nadarasa from Monday's launch at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Oslo for To End a Civil War…

  • Oslo Book Launch

    Here are a few shots from yesterday's Norwegian book launch at the Oslo Peace Research Institute (PRIO). Good discusssion at a well-attended event - and once again, we…

  • London launch: Sri Lankan media coverage

    Here's a piece from the weekend edition of The Island, also reprinted in the Sri Lankan Guardian. The reporting of Erik Solheim's speech is surprisingly accurate. And…

  • BBC Asian Network Interview

    Here's an in-depth Sri Lanka book interview I did with Nihal at BBC Asian Network yesterday. First part of his programme is on a rather different topic. But if you want…

  • London Book Launch

    Book launch at SOAS, London this evening. Well-attended, good discussion - and copies of the book even completely sold out! Hopefully a good sign of things to come . . .…

  • Two Salters Clash Over London!

    28 October 2015: Tonight's The Night: Two Salters Clash inna London Stylee! Starting with me at SOAS . . . : And ending up with my brother Tom's fab band The Peatbog…

  • Tont Blair 'apologises' for Iraq

    So this, my friends, is the closest Tony Blair has yet come to some form of apology for his decision to support . and participate - in the UK Iraq intervention. A truly…

  • Do You Love My Music?

    Saturday morning inspiration. That man: that voice; that number . . . A reminder of the power of great sounds to lift the spirit inna higher places. Jah Bless you Andy…

  • Stockholm Book Launch

    Here are (bilingual) details (English below) for the Stockholm launch of my new book, which will be held at Södra Teatern on Thursday 19 November. Further event info at…

  • Oslo Book Launch

    Here are the details for the Oslo launch of my new book, to be held 2 November at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO). The panelists are Erik Solheim, Professor…

  • Hurst picks up ‘Sri Lanka and the Politics of Justice’

    Good to see Hurst using this post from last week . . . .

  • The death and life of the great British pub

    Customers at the bar in The Golden Lion. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian Here's an absolutely brilliant piece of reportage from Tom Lamont in the UK Guardian's…

  • Sri Lanka and the Politics of Justice

    Here's a longish thinkpiece on the current state of the debate regarding appropriate strategies for pursuing accountability - and reconciliation - in post-war Sri Lanka.…

  • The Return of No-Man's Land

    Below is a the link to an excellent recent piece by Tara Zahra, a Professor of East European History at the University of Chicago. She views the current Central Europeam…

  • Bringing Hamid to Sweden

    We've just played overnight hosts to Dan Biswas, a Danish man working for a Danish-Greek NGO, Faros, that supports unaccompanied refugee children and teenagers in…

  • It's Here (Apparently) . . .

    Michael Dwyer @MikeDwyer 2h2 hours ago Camden Town, London SOON: @marsal61 @francesharris0n @robpinney @SolheimDAC @vidar @AmarAmarasingam Review copies en route.…

  • To End A Civil War: London Book Launch

    The launch of my new book To End A Civl War: Norway's Peace Engagement in Sri Lanka, published by Hurst, was held in London on Weds 28 October 2015. A series of European…

  • India’s World - UN report on Sri Lanka War Crimes

    Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images ----------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a useful c. 25 minute discussion of the UN's recently…

  • History's True Warning

    Here's a brilliant piece from the eminent Yale Professor Timothy Snyder summarising the argument of his new book, Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. The…

  • Central Europe's refugee conundrum

    Everybody has seen footage of Budapest's Keleti (East) station this past week by now. The crowds of exhausted refugees camped out around the station, the lines of…

  • Europe's refugee crisis: 10 powerful photos

    This was published today in the BBC's Magazine. I don't think it requires further comment from me: the pictures and accompanying text tell their own story. The…

  • 'No one leaves home unless . . . '

    Photo: Daniet Etter/New York Times/Redux /eyevine. Syrian refugee Laith Majid cries tears of joy and relief that he and his children have made it to Europe. Here is a…

  • Death in the Aegean

    I thought long and hard - and in fact wavered over - sharing the appalling, shocking images that have also featured on the front pages of international media. The tiny…

  • Sri Lanka after elections - and before the UN Human Rights Council

    The excellent openDemocracy are running the op ed piece Erik Solheim and I published jointly last week in the Hindustan Times. The article outlines a suggested priority…

  • Is it justifiable to show footage of people being killed?

    Here's a statistic to ponder: Reportedly, more US citizens have been killed by guns since 1968 than have died on battlefields in the entire history of America. This…

  • Europe's life-jacket capital

    Currently there are so many eye-watering stories of the desperate plight of refugees from chronic instabilty and conflict in North Africa, the Middle East and beyond…

  • I’ll speak on behalf of Sri Lanka: Tony Blair

    Not content with denying any responsibility for the continuing carnage in Iraq and beyond, and still dogged by acusations - notably from Desmond Tutu - of responsibility…

  • Roadmap to reconciliation: 4 challenges for Sri Lanka

    I have an op article assessing the post-electoral political landscape in Sri Lanka in today's Hindustan Times. It's written jointly with Erik Solheim, lead Norwegian…

  • Election Day in Sri Lanka

    Today, 17 August 2015 is parliamentary election day in Sri Lanka. As I write in fact, the polls have just closed (16.00 Colombo time) and we will probvably have the…

  • Ornette Coleman: RIP

    So the man has passed on. Not sure how I managed to miss the news of Ornette Coleman's death at the time six weeks back, but I did. Now it's reached me I find myself…

  • Sri Lanka’s memory wars thwart reconciliation

    Here is a thoughtful review of Sri Lankan Tamil intellectual and human rights activist Rajan Hoole's new book: Palmyra Fallen; From Rajani to War’s End. Having made my…

  • To End a Civil War

    Just heard from the publishers that the book is finally going to the typesetters today. So should be on course for publication by the end of July: watch this space for…

  • Charlie Hebdo and free speech: France's murky past

    In the aftermath of the murderous attacks on the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo at the beginning of 2015, calls to rally to the defence of French 'republican values'…

  • 1984 or Brave New World? Who was right - Orwell or Huxley?

    The cartoon sequence below, a visual adaptation of passages from Neil Postman's seminal Amusing Ourselves to Death by artist Stuart McMillan, is featured in a…

  • 'Dick From The Internet'

    I have several eminently worthy recipients for this cartoon lined up. You?

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    It's the inauguration of your country's newly-elected President, and you're a sharp, enterprising young female journalist covering the event. One of the guests at the…

  • Beyond Acccountability: The Struggle For Co-Existence

    Here's a very strong piece from two Sri Lankans looking at the uses - and abuses - of the demand for accountability in post-war Sri Lanka. In particular the…

  • Digital Journalism: How Good Is It?

    A stimulating piece by Michael Massing in the latest edition of The New York Review of Books takes a look at the present state of online media: tunrs out in fact, it's…

  • Time to Dismantle World Football's Edifice of Corruption

    Dawn arrests in 5-Star Zurich hotels. A special press conference called by US Attorney Loretta Lynch to present a charge sheet of what she called “rampant, systemic and…

  • Ex-Sri Lanka Army Chief would 'welcome' war crimes investigation

    'My conscience is clear'. 'The army as a whole, I can give the assurance that we never committed war crimes". . . . . Brave, not to say fighting talk from Sarath Fonseka…

  • 18 May 2015: War Commemorations in North and South

    For the first time since the end of Sri Lanka's civil war in May 2009, this year it has been possible - albeit not particularly easy - for the Tamil population of the…

  • Bibi: The Hidden Consequences of His Election Victory

    Trenchant, if depressing, analysis of the recent Israeli election results by an insider who knows what he's talking about. A few shards of hope too. In particular…

  • The Walk Of Shame

    To mark the sixth anniversary of the ending of Sri Lanka's civil war in May 2009, Frances Harrison has published a devastating piece in The Colombo Mirror. I say…

  • Freedom Party Blues II

    Divided and confused, the SLFP is morphing into President Sirisena’s greatest vexation, with its shifting allegiances towards his predecessor, determination to scuttle…

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    Three expert voices interviewed in the context of EU Foreign Policy Supremo Federica Mogherini's request to the UN Security Council earlier this week to pass a…

  • Sri Lanka: Landscape Before The Elections

    Sage analysis of Lankan pre-electoral dynamics from Jayaveda Uyangoda. For some, (re)-learning the habits of democracy is not easy after years spent acquiring the habits…

  • Kandyan Dancers

    A lovely couple of pictures of girls in traditional costume awaiting the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry in Kandy during his visit to Sri Lanka last weekend.…

  • Books R Us

    In the 1980s, as Gorbachev came to power and perestroika led to profound changes – initially in the Soviet Union and subsequently among its communist allies – as a…