Development through International Events: a case study on Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka 2013

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Date
2015
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Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
The concept of power is explicated by the school of realists by focusing the nature of independent states. According to realists the primary concern of states is to attain power and there are several ways to exercise power- namely, coerce with threats (Sticks), induce with payments (carrots) or attract and co-opt to obtain outcomes what require to attain. Moreover, military capability, economic capacity, industrial and natural resources and political stability have named as the elements of power. Apart from those as Montevideo Convention in 1933mentioned “international recognition” is an essential fact of cognizing a state in de jure manner and it is a part of a power as well. Further states are able to obtain power as a byproduct of development and vise versa. As explained above power is a key concern of any state which can be obtained through development. When investigating the history of the world phenomena it is apparent that there are impacts of international events on development of states in some extent. For instance, as Stefanie Beyer mentioned in Chinese Journal of International Law, China has gained massive development specially in tourism field by means of hosting 2008 Beijin Olympics. Hence the intention of this research paper is to investigate how Sri Lanka utilized international events in order to gain development by means of a case study on Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which was hosted in 2013. Problem Statement and Research Problem It is apparent that states of the world have developed through international events. Therefore, the research statement of this research is ‘Many independent states of the world have developed their countries by hosting international events. According to the research statement has stated above, the research problem is ‘Have independent/ states of the world developed through international events?’ In this anarchical international system every states pursues to gain power and to thrive by themselves. For that purpose development is a key factor. In that sense when observing the history of the world, it is visible that states have gained development as well as power through hosting international events. According to this, the significance of this research is to realize the gained development of Sri Lanka through CHOGM 2013and open this research to further researches as well as to point out the significance of international events as a development tool. Apart from that, since this research is being done by two principle disciplines of Marketing and International Relations (IR), this research will be good experience for multi-disciplinary intellectual research exercise. Hypothesis ‘Countries are able to gain development through international events’ is the procreated hypothesis which is driven this research for convenient study. Objectives The main objective of this research is to investigate how Sri Lanka utilized CHOGM 2013 as a tool in the process of post war development. The secondary objectives are to examine the use of Marketing strategies and concepts of IR used at CHOGM 2013 for development and to explore and suggest strategies and models for countries which and be used in international events in order to gain development. Methodology Type of research which has been used was qualitative. Whole idea of using qualitative research was to gain in depth understanding about the problem interested. When conducting qualitative research several tools were used. Primary data were gathered through discussions with experts and secondary data were gathered using case study research methods using books, journals, magazines and official websites of relevant parties. Research Findings and Discussion “Growth with Equity; Inclusive Development.” When looking at the theme of CHOGM 2013 which is stated above it is clear that the main focus of this international event is the concept of Development. According to the Brutland report sustainable development is defined as meeting the needs of present without compromising resources which are to be used by future generations. Therefore Sri Lankan intention of CHOGM 2013 is to attain inward development in sustainable manner.
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Keywords
Management, Hospitality, Tourism and Events Management, Tourism, Tourism Management, Commonwealth
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