Contesting Hegemony from the Margins: Sri Lankan and Maldivian Agency in the Face of Sino-Indian Hegemonic Competition in the Indian Ocean

Abstract

Walking through Colombo with a Sri Lankan diplomat, the Lotus Tower – a 350-metre structure largely funded by China – dominated the skyline. ‘Wherever I take a picture, the tower is there,’ they remarked. ‘Do you see China? Do you see India? Do you see Sri Lanka? Regardless, the tower is always there. It must mean something to Sri Lankans.’ This remark underscores a fundamental reality: while great powers assert influence over small states—embodied in structures like the Lotus Tower—these states are not passive spectators. Rather, Sri Lanka and Maldives actively contest this influence, strategically leveraging infrastructure and ecological narratives to advance alternative forms of power. Adopting a Neo-Gramscian approach, this paper challenges Realist views that marginalise small state agency and moves beyond Constructivist accounts that frame it as mere reception and adaptation, by showing how Sri Lanka and Maldives actively reshape great power competition through counter-hegemonic narratives that contest dominant worldviews and structures. In Sri Lanka, this contestation materialises through monumental infrastructure, where visibility and grandeur articulate sovereignty and national aspiration. In Maldives, it emerges through an ecological framework that prioritises environmental integrity over geopolitical alignment. Hence, small island states redefine the spatial and ideational landscapes of great power competition and assert agency from the margins of the Indian Ocean.