Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: South Asia, grade: 82%, McGill University, course: Political Change in South Asia, language: English, abstract: Sri Lanka has only recently survived a civil war.Though the conflict is over, questions still arise over whether the country has genuinely facilitated the process of reconstruction and reconciliation of ties across its different ethnic communities. Where are the origins of the Sinhala-Tamil conflict? This essay will strive to analyze the different socio-ecoonmic, historical and political factors, which have influenced Sinhala-Tamil relations and determined the path of Sri Lanka in the last three decades.