US-CHINA RIVALRY: Maintaining Sri Lanka's autonomy

During a discussion at the Regional Center for Strategic Studies (RCSS) in Sri Lanka on 9 December, Dr. Neil DeVotta, Professor at Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA commented on the "gravity of a geopolitical contest that has already reshaped global politics and will continue to mould the future.

- BY NEVILLE LADDUWAHETTY

For Sri Lanka - positioned at the heart of the Indian Ocean, economically fragile, and diplomatically exposedhis analysis was neither distant nor abstract. It was a warning of the world taking shape around us" (Ceylon Today, December 14, 2025).Sri Lanka is known for ignoring warnings as it did with the recent cyclone or security lapses in the past that resulted in terrorist attacks. Professor De Votta's warning too would most likely be ignored considering the unshakable adherence to Non-Alignment held by past and present experts who have walked the halls of the Foreign Ministry, notwithstanding the global reshaping taking place around us almost daily. In contrast, Professor De Votta "argued that nonalignment is largely a historical notion. Few countries today are truly nonaligned. Most States claiming neutrality are in practice economically or militarily dependent on one of the great powers. Sri Lanka provides a clear example while it pursues the rhetoric of nonalignment, its reliance on Chinese investments for infrastructure projects has effectively been aligned to Beijing. Nonalignment today is more about perceptions than reality. He stressed that smaller nations must carefully manage perceptions while negotiating real strategic dependencies to maintain flexibility in an increasingly polarised world." (Ibid).