Month: October 2015

Here’s an in-depth Sri Lanka book interview I did with Nihal at BBC Asian Network yesterday. First part of his programme is on a rather different topic. But if you want to get to the Sri Lanka bit scroll to c. 2hr 15 mins into the programme…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06kbwz3

Book launch at SOAS, London this evening. Well-attended, good discussion – and copies of the book even completely sold out! Hopefully a good sign of things to come . . . . (And here FYI is the publisher’s link to the book  . . ) http://www.hurstpublishers.com/

28 October 2015: Tonight’s The Night: Two Salters Clash inna London Stylee! Starting with me at SOAS . . . : http://www.cisd.soas.ac.uk/event/book-launch-to-end-a-civil-war-norways-peace-engagement-with-sri-lanka,29177493 And ending up with my brother Tom’s fab band The Peatbog Faeries at Dingwalls! http://www.dingwalls.com/listings/events/28-oct-15-peatbog-faeries-dingwalls/ Peatbog Faeries  Dingwalls, London Wednesday 28 October  19:00 £15 Adv   Entry Requirements: 18+

So this, my friends, is the closest Tony Blair has yet come to some form of apology for his decision to support . and participate – in the UK Iraq intervention. A truly amazing feature of this ‘apology’ is the fact that he focuses  on what he calls wrong’ intelligence over Saddam’s nuclear capability – in other words precisely the thing over which his government exercised most control: the production and dissemination of ‘intelligence’ justifying the UK decision to go to war. Now it’s my turn to ‘apologise’ to you too Tony. For calling this claim what is: low, deceitful… More

  Saturday morning inspiration. That man: that voice; that number . . .  A reminder of the power of great sounds to lift the spirit inna higher places. Jah Bless you Andy Horace! https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=horace+andy+do+you+love+my+music

  Here are (bilingual) details (English below) for the Stockholm launch of my new book, which will be held at Södra Teatern on Thursday 19 November. Further event info at: http://sodrateatern.com/bokrelease-to-end-a-civil-war/ Den 28e okt i London lanseras min nya bok To End A Civil War: Norway’s Peace Engagement in Sri Lanka utgiven av brittiska förlaget Hurst. I samband med bokens release i London och Oslo (2e nov) anordnas även på Södra Teatern i Stockholm på torsdag 19 nov ett panelsamtal om omvärldens försök att mäkla fred i Sri Lanka. (Mer information om bokens innehåll finns nedan): I panelen medverkar: –… More

Here are the details for the Oslo launch of my new book, to be held 2 November at the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO). The panelists are Erik Solheim, Professor Anne Julie Semb from Oslo University, Iselin Frydenlund, a Senior Researcher at PRIO and myself. Henrik Syse, also a Senior Researcher at PRIO, is moderating the event. Details below and at: https://www.prio.org/Events/Event/?x=8370 Related Research Groups: Regions and Powers Related people: Henrik Syse Iselin Frydenlund Related locations: Sri Lanka To End a Civil War: Norway’s Peace Engagement with Sri Lanka Book Launch Time: 02 November 2015 13:00-14:30 Place: PRIO, Hausmanns… More

Good to see Hurst using this post from last week . . . . http://www.hurstpublishers.com/sri-lanka-and-the-politics-of-justice/

Customers at the bar in The Golden Lion. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian Here’s an absolutely brilliant piece of reportage from Tom Lamont in the UK Guardian‘s ‘Long Read’ series. A must-read for all Londoners and indeed city-dwellers anywhere concerned about the impact of the property-acquisition vultures circling over anything with a hint of tradition – and thus potentially unrealized profit – about it. In this case meaning Victorian and Edwardian era pubs, with which London is blessed with its fair share. Simplest thing would br to quote the intro: ‘Across the country, pubs are being shuttered at an… More

Here’s a longish thinkpiece on the current state of the debate regarding appropriate strategies for pursuing accountability – and reconciliation – in post-war Sri Lanka. It’s published today by openDemocracy. ———— Sri Lanka and the politics of justice Mark Salter 14 October 2015 Truth and reconciliation is a project which inevitably needs to balance short term politics against long term justice. There are signs that Sri Lanka’s new government understands the challenge For Sri Lanka it’s been something of a roller-coaster start to the autumn. First, mid-August parliamentary elections handed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa his second defeat of the year… More