Dr S. I. Keethaponcalan is Chair of the Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution Department at Salisbury University, Maryland. Formerly he was Professor of Political Science and head of the Department of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

He has served as a researcher and research fellow in several international agencies, including the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva, Switzerland, the Bonn International Center for Conversion in Bonn, Germany, and the Peace and Governance Program of the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan.

He was a recipient of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science-United Nations University (JSPS-UNU) Post-doctoral Fellowship (2007), Asialink Teaching Fellowship in the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bielefeld, Germany (2005), German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD) Fellowship at the University of Heidelberg, Germany (2002) and the Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship in the United States (1995).

Dr Keethaponcalan has published widely on conflict and peace-related issues in Sri Lanka and South Asia.

The following are some of his recent publications: Conflict and Peace in Sri Lanka: Major Document (Kumaran Books, 2009); Sri Lanka, Perspectives on the Ceasefire Agreement of 2002 (co-edited, South Asia Peace Institute, 2009); Maritime Cooperation Between India and Sri Lanka (co-authored, Manohar Publishers, 2006); “The Indian Factor in the Peace Process and Conflict Resolution in Sri Lanka,” in Jonathan Goodhand, Jonathan Spencer & Benedikt Korf (Eds.), Conflict and Peace-building in Sri Lanka: Caught in the Peace Trap (Routledge, 2011); “Hinduism: War, Peace and Conflict and Peace Studies,” in Tom Matyok et al. (Eds.), Peace on Earth: The Role of Religion in Peace and Conflict  Studies (Lexington Books, 2014); “A Small Power’s Struggle for Independence in the Independent Era – the Case of Sri Lanka” (African and Asia Studies, 2014); and “Dragon in the Teardrop: Regional Dynamics of Increasing Chinese Presence in Sri Lanka,” in Pak Nung, Wong and Cheng, Yu Shek (eds). Global China: Internal and External Reaches (New Jersey: World Scientific Publishers).