Maxwin Paul Rayen

Military Governance in Post-War Sri Lanka: Revisiting the Logic of Downsizing

Jul 17

More than a decade after Sri Lanka’s civil war ended in 2009, the country still maintains one of the world’s largest standing armies. This enduring militarisation cannot be explained by conventional security needs or fiscal prudence. Sri Lanka is an island with no land borders and faces no significant external military threat, yet its Army remains bloated. Why?
Why citing Sri Lanka to justify Gaza is strategically and legally dangerous

On 21 May 2025, The Jerusalem Post published an interview with Israeli security expert Moshe Elad. He claimed that Sri Lanka’s military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009 offers a model for eliminating Hamas. “Sri Lanka did it without a Supreme Court or B’Tselem,” he said. The subtext was clear: Israel should replicate the same path, minus legal oversight, to achieve total victory.