"Obama win can reduce Sinhala-Tamil divide"

by Dayan Jayatilleka in Geneva

(November 11, Geneva, Sri Lanka Guardian) The historic win of Barack Obama can help reduce ethnic prejudices and divides throughout the world, such as those between Israelis and Palestinians and Tamils and Sinhalese. This is the view expressed by Kishore Mahbubani in the Commemorative Issue of TIME magazine on the Obama election. Mahbubani is described as one of “the world’s top ten thinkers” in the current (Nov/Dec 2008) edition of the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine published by the Washington Post foundation, and asked for his suggestions for the incoming Cabinet of President-elect Barack Obama.

Mahbubani is Professor, National University of Singapore, and Dean of the Lee Kwan Yew School at that university. He is Singapore’s former Ambassador to the United Nations. His latest book is The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East.

Mahbubani is one of the ten global personalities (others include David Miliband and Amartya Sen) to be invited by TIME magazine to comment on the global implications of the Obama victory for the Commemorative Issue. He says: “…And if we can reduce this deep ethnic prejudice, we may have hope for other ethnic divides, like those between the Israelis and Palestinians or Tamils and Sinhalese. If we can finally focus on our common humanity, we have a real opportunity to create a better world”. - Sri Lanka Guardian