There are places in the world where you expect war to intervene. And then there are the places where his arrival feels sublime.
for me, The Sri Lankan city of Galle has always belonged to the latter category. The old fort, high above the Indian Ocean, has the feel of a tropical cousin to the walled city of Cartagena. Within its walls is an unlikely mix: Western expats, boutique hotels, a long-standing local Muslim community and wealthy Sri Lankans who have restored colonial homes into luxury villas and guesthouses. The streets are lined with cafes, bookstores, jewelry and art galleries.
It’s a place I associate with holidays, and long evenings by the sea, literature and gin and entertaining sounds, rather than geopolitics. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I spent a lot of time near Galle. Only last year, I returned to the Galle International Literary Festival, where I enjoyed a public talk with renowned human rights lawyer and author Philippe Sands.
Off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, near Galle, the United States sank an Iranian navy ship, reportedly a frigate that was transiting the area. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly celebrated the strike as a successful military operation.
