Democracy, Sovereignty and Terror: Lakshman Kadirgamar on the Foundations of International Order

Democracy, Sovereignty and Terror: Lakshman Kadirgamar on the Foundations of International Order, edited by Sir Adam Roberts, presents a timely overview and appreciation of the late Sri Lankan foreign minister, who was assassinated in 2005.

Lakshman Kadirgamar was an astute and brave thinker and practitioner on many key issues in international politics. Long before 9/11 he warned Western democracies that they were too passive about the activities on their soil of foreign terrorist movements and their front organizations. He was a strong advocate of democracy and human rights, conducting the first-ever Amnesty investigation into the problems of a particular country - Vietnam. He was uniquely effective in countering the propaganda campaigns of the separatist Tamil Tigers in his native Sri Lanka - the movement which ultimately took his life.

This definitive work explores the continuing relevance of his ideas for the modern world. Democracy, Sovereignty and Terror presents Kadirgamars distinctive voice in his major speeches. It also offers a convincing picture, by those who knew him, of a scholar-statesman who was both a realist and an idealist.

The book is now available from I.B. Tauris Publishing and Amazon.