He is the founder and chairman of the Foundation for Co-Existence, an organization promoting co-existence through human security in Sri Lanka. He also presides the National Anti War Front in Sri Lanka. From 1992-1998, he was the Secretary General at International Alert, which is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in the world and dedicated to the prevention and mitigation of violent, internal conflict. Prior to this appointment, he was at the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO), where he directed its programme on ethnic conflict and conflict resolution. During his time at the PRIO, he was co-ordinator of the Programme of Governance and Conflict Resolution at the United Nations University. During his 20 years of work, he was the Chair of the Forum for Early Warning and Early Response (FEWER), chair of the Human Rights Information Documentation and Information Exchange, International (HURIDOCS) and chair of the Commission on Internal Conflicts. He is also a productive author and editor on conflict transformation, civil war and early warning. He is the co-author of ‘Civil Wars, Civil Peace: An Introduction to Conflict Resolution’, the editor of ‘Conflict Transformation’ and ‘Internal Conflict and Governance’, and the co-editor of ‘Early Warning and Conflict Resolution’. Not only these books but also a number of additional books and articles has he written and edited. He obtained B.A.(Hons.) from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from the City University of London.