"A house divided against itself cannot stand”

– Abraham Lincoln

(June 16, 1858, Republican State Convention)

There is no real victor in a civil war. For it is a war between brothers. One cannot defeat a brother without losing oneself and this is the explanation of the above phrase.

When two members of a family quarrel, it can either lead to a bitter feud or if managed properly can lead to an effective reconciliation. The American nation survived the civil war primarily because the efforts preceding the war were focussed upon rebuilding a nation, not one fraction subjugating another. Efforts should be made on rebuilding and restructuring the nation as a whole. Where is the need for any prolonged celebration when there has been no invader that has been thwarted? Nor has there been a foreign enemy defeated and the blood shed is the same on both sides. It is time for the nation to recognise that Sri Lanka has survived more than a millennia prior to western colonisation. Wars fought in this land but never on such a trivial basis as language! Civil wars throughout history, fought on distinctions based upon language, culture or religion, have never led to peace and prosperity.

Civil wars fought in Northern Ireland, Spain, Rwanda and the like, have left behind embers that continue to smoulder. What we do not want is a Kashmir in Sri Lanka. This war, in reality, has not been waged against race, colour, creed or language. It has always been a war against terrorism. And this needs to be recognised and propagated. This must be interwoven into the rebuilding of the nation. In this case, the American people have become an example to follow. A civil war that has been successfully laid to rest. The greatest Presidents of the United States from Lincoln to Kennedy to Obama have continued the healing process. If there is one thing that the election of President Obama has proclaimed to the world, it has been that we can coexist as a people despite caste, colour, creed and culture or even language.

War of any kind has never resulted in any long lasting benefit for any particular group, be it victors or losers throughout the history of man. The physical battlefield has always been at best merely a footnote in rebuilding a nation...

It is time to realise that the real war has only just begun. The only war worth fighting. The war that Sri Lanka really needs to win and that being Sri Lanka versus the rest of the world - an Economic War. A war, which is fought with laptops, cell phones, PCs and PDAs. A war by which Sri Lanka will finally be able to take its place amongst the nations of Man.

The real power today is economic strength. Iraq and Afghanistan had been lost long before the advent of troops. The troops merely helped to complete the debacle. The mighty Soviet Union with its numerous satellite states fell without a single shot. As did the monolithic Berlin Wall. Whatever happened to the impenetrable Iron Curtain? The UN has been effectively muzzled. First through GATT and then again by WTO. NATO has been overshadowed by the EU. Even the military might of China and US quaver before the OIC or APEC. Germany, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and even city states like Hong Kong and Singapore exert great influence over global affairs well beyond their military might due to economic clout.

Two of the world’s most industrially powerful nations, Japan and Germany who are the bulwark of the both the European and Asian economic resurgence respectively are nations that do not have physical existing standing armies per se. Both these nations with no military might whatsoever are, on the world platform, giants amongst nations. Both these nations have raised themselves from the ruins of a devastating war and turned themselves into industrial titans by virtue of one single fact – they chose to focus on a real war. An Economic War.

They focussed all their energy, resources and strategies towards rebuilding, renewing, re-energising and re-synergising all of their various resources. The primary resource being always the human capital. Ultimately, the human element in both of these nations have made them into what they are. Look historically at the nations that have commanded and controlled the world’s largest armies and empires. Where are they now? Classic examples of these being the British, the Roman and the Mongol Empire.

Great things can be rebuilt upon the nation coming together, not standing apart. If one wants to see the power of reconciliation, they need not look further than the United States. The coming together of the North and South, post the Civil War created the world’s largest economy. The European nations coming together in the aftermath of World War II created the might of the European Community. However, it must be recognised that it is going to be a long hard road forward. It is actually going to take a greater effort than the one used in the battlefield.

A classic case in point is the German unification. A powerful euphoria engulfed the nation at the time of the fall of the Berlin wall. But one can clearly see the cost of this unification has taken its toll on the nation. Having the economic tools does not by itself guarantee any success on the path to unification. It cannot even facilitate the event. It can at best only provide initial impetus. The real efforts of unification must be engaged in the hearts and minds of the nation. It must be personified via the strategies of rebuilding and restructuring. It is up to the leadership of the nation to clearly show their commitment towards unifying the nation as a whole. This would mean embracing all parts of the nation as one. When man is treated as an equal, he generally responds as one. It is only when inequality emerges that division also arises.

Sri Lanka has the greatest potential of any nation in Asia to turn itself into a strategic commercial hub and industrial powerhouse, sitting both along the east-west trade routes and on the brink of the Indian subcontinent thereby making it a natural gateway to 1.5 billion people. If only, a fragment of this is realised, Sri Lanka will overtake Singapore and possibly Hong Kong within the next decade. Sri Lanka will then with great pride be able to take its place among the brotherhood of nations. That would be the real victory...