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Sri Lanka: A Bridge Too Far?

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Norway’s Peace Policy

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Abstract

We have argued that Norway’s distinctive approach to peacemaking and peacebuilding rests on five basic factors: a domestic consensus that permits long-term sustained commitments to peace building and peacemaking efforts, multilateralism, a reputation for impartiality and discretion, “ground truth”/local knowledge provided by local nongovernmental organization (NGO) partners, and parallel peace processes (see chapter 3). Of major initiatives undertaken by Norway over the last 20 years, Sri Lanka stands as an outlier with respect to several factors that comprise what has become known as the Norwegian “policy of engagement.”1 The mission did fit well with the idea of Norway as the “humanitarian great power.”2 Unlike earlier engagements where Norway worked behind the scenes, leaving the public diplomacy to other engaged countries and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), Norway publicly took the lead as principal sponsor of the negotiation process. This placed Norway and the process directly in the spotlight. Rather than secrecy, activities were subjected to constant media coverage. Active facilitation became the principal mode rather than serving as a backdrop—that is, as a more private exercise in support of a broader public process.

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Notes

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  1. James Larry Taulbee
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  2. Ann Kelleher
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  3. Peter C. Grosvenor
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© 2014 James Larry Taulbee, Ann Kelleher, and Peter C. Grosvenor

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Taulbee, J.L., Kelleher, A., Grosvenor, P.C. (2014). Sri Lanka: A Bridge Too Far?. In: Norway’s Peace Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137429193_5

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