Asanga Abeyagoonasekera

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera (Sinhala: අසංග අබේගුණසේකර; born 21 August 1977) is an Sri Lankan academic, geopolitics and foreign policy analyst.[2] He is a political columnist[3] and author. He is a visiting professor for geopolitics and global leadership at Northern Kentucky University[4] and a visiting lecturer in International Political Economy for University of London in Sri Lanka Royal Institute of Colombo and teach International Security at University of Colombo. Asanga has more than a decade of experience in Government Administration, serving as the head of several Government Institutions to positions at the board level. Asanga writes the monthly column Dateline Colombo [5] for IPCS think tank in New Delhi.

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera in 2013.
Born (1977-08-21) 21 August 1977
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Alma materS. Thomas' Preparatory School
Ananda College
Harvard Kennedy School
Edith Cowan University
OccupationGovernment Administration
Years active2004–present
Spouse(s)Kumudu[1]

Asanga is the Founding Director General of the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka(INSSSL).[6] He was the former Executive Director of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) which is a Sri Lankan government foreign policy think tank.[7][8]

Early life and education

Asanga is the only son of Ossie Abeygunasekera, who was the leader of Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (SLMP), presidential candidate and Member of Parliament from Colombo District. Ossie Abeygunasekera was assassinated by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide attack in 1994.

His primary and secondary education was at S. Thomas' Preparatory School and Ananda College, he gained BSc in Computer Science and a MBA from the Edith Cowan University. He has studied at the Harvard Kennedy School, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, India School of Business, Oxford University and Yale University. He attended Harvard Kennedy School under US-SouthAsia leadership program to study counter terrorism.

He is an alumnus of the National Defence University Washington, APCSS Hawaii and US State Department IVLP [9]

Career

Having worked in the Sri Lankan telecommunication sector as a project manager at Sri Lanka Telecom and Hutchison Lanka from 2001-2005, Asanga joined the government sector in 2005 and was appointed Chairman of the Ceylon Fishery Harbours Corporation (CFHC)[10][11][12] following the Asian tsunami in 2004 which destroyed many fishery harbours. He held the post until 2010 after successful reconstruction of the fishery harbours and transforming the loss making cooperation into profit,[13] He was appointed Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency in 2010[14][15] and served until 2011, when he was appointed as Executive Director of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies the Government foreign policy think tank under Ministry of External Affairs. Asanga was also on the Board of Directors of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority from 2005 to 2010. On 10 April 2015, he was appointed as a Board Director at the Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL) by Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake.[16] Asanga served as a consultant to Minister of Finance until May 2016.

In 2012, Asanga was selected as a Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum.[17]

Asanga is the founding curator of the Global Shapers Colombo Hub and the Global Dignity[1] Country Chair for Sri Lanka.

In 2012 Asanga established "Dirisaviya Foundation" a non governmental not for profit foundation which operates several initiatives including ipaidabribe.lk,[18] a powerful global crowdsourced anticorruption website, the project Global Dignity for School Children,[19] and the Millennium Project Foresight initiative of Sri Lanka,.[20] Dirisaviya Foundation also launched two mobile apps, Sri Dalada[21] and Sinhala Poets.[22] The foundation conducted the memorial lecture of the national hero Ven.S.Mahinda Thero.[23]

Books

In 2015 Asanga published the book Towards a Better World Order.[24]

In 2016 he authored a chapter for The Modi Doctrine: New Paradigms in India’s Foreign Policy[25] and also wrote the children's book The Sacred Tooth Relic of Sri Lanka.[26]

In 2018 he authored a book Sri Lanka at Crossroads: Geopolitical challenges and National Interests[27] published by World Scientific Singapore.[28] The book was praised by former national security advisor of India Shivshankar Menon, former foreign Minister Singapore George Yeo, and many other academics from around the world. In the book, Asanga revisits Halford Mackinder's geopolitical theories while highlighting the geostrategic importance of Sri Lanka.[29]

References
  1. "Asanga Abeyagoonasekera". Global Dignity. Archived from the original on February 25, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  3. Asanga appointed DG of Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka
  7. Island.lk: Asanga Abeyagoonasekera appointed Executive Director of LKIIRSS
  8. "Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies website". Archived from the original on 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  10. Sunday Times Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka aims to make the best tuna in the world
  11. Business Today: When You See a Barrier, Just Cross It Over
  12. Lanka Business Online: Going Deep - Sri Lanka starts whale watching Archived November 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  14. Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency website
  15. Target.lk: Asanga Abeyagoonasekera Assumes Duties As Chairman Of Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Agency
  16. "Asanga Abeyagoonasekera appointed as Board Director for IBSL". News.lk. April 13, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  17. "Asanga Abeyagoonasekera". Global Shapers Community. Archived from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  29. http://www.dailynews.lk/2018/12/28/features/172530/‘sri-lanka-crossroads’-geopolitical-challenges-and-national-interests
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