ABSTRACT
The introductory chapters laid out the securitisation framework and explored how states view INGOs and INGOs view states. The task for the following five chapters is to examine how the theory works in practice. This chapter analyses the relationship between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the 2006/7 period, and the next chapter continues the story in the 2008/9 period. As this chapter sets the baseline for the subsequent chapters, this case study is limited to the experience of one organisation in a clear-cut case of securitisation. As the goal of this case study is to set out the basic concepts and introduce the themes that will be discussed in the other studies, it is more deeply described and comprehensive than the latter cases. The following framework was used in the analysis and underpins the presentation:
Differentiation: the creation of difference between the self and others by distinguishing between friends and enemies, instigated by changes in the context.
Organisation: how messages are organised and framed, including thematically.
Meaning: what is meant to be understood by these messages, rather than what they communicate superficially.
Action: what are the actions the messages justified? And what is done – or planned to be done – based on the messages?
Practice: how is the discourse ‘done’? And what was the reaction?
