Sri Lanka and the Gulf States

Abstract

Using the regional security complex theory (RSCT) framework, this chapter examines parallels between Sri Lanka and the Gulf states, Iran and Israel (GII) in their attempt to securitise issues encompassing migration, terrorism and climate change. The grounds for comparison outlined in the first section broadly outline the shared cultural, trade and migratory ties between both regions throughout history. While this chapter presents efforts in Sri Lanka and across the GII to frame climate change as a serious issue with a potential to affect livelihoods, there is still an uneven degree of politicisation—let alone securitisation—which fails to address the issue as a distinctive security threat. This chapter establishes more similarities in the way Sri Lanka and the GII states have approached terrorism, which is an important concern across those countries. Nonetheless, this chapter concludes that country-level responses to terrorism differ, with some stopping at mere politicisation while others ventured into more pronounced securitisation.