Indian Ocean: The Vortex of Destiny

( May 6, 2014, Boston, Sri Lanka Guardian ) Speaker: Ranil Wickremesinghe, the former prime minister of Sri Lanka, is currently a Robert E. Wilhelm fellow at the Center for International Studies at MIT. The Sri Lankan politician and current leader of the Opposition in the Sri Lankan parliament was prime minister of Sri Lanka twice, from May 7, 1993 to August 19, 1994 and from December 9, 2001 to April 6, 2004. A member of the United National Party he was appointed party leader in November 1994. During his one month stay at MIT, Wickremesinghe will study how to formulate a constitution sans an executive presidency. He will also work with faculty and students interested in Asian regional issues.

Chairing: Kenneth Oye, holds a joint appointment in Political Science and Engineering Systems and directs the MIT Program on Emerging Technologies (PoET). He is currently a faculty PI in the NSF Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center and PI on an NSF grant on "Creating a Research Agenda on Ecological Implications of Synthetic Biology."




Cosponsors: MIT Center for International Studies and MIT-India Program