The United States cannot afford to “disengage” with Sri Lanka, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) of Washington emphasizes and notes that a 'more subtle and sophisticated approach' is needed when engaging with Sri Lanka, recognizing that its 'political game has changed', and that US should focus on its 'economic, trade, and security interests'.

The research paper by Uttara Dukkipati of the South Asia Program at CSIS, titled, Sri Lanka’s Elections: A Clear Mandate?, further states that the stakes in new engagement between Sri Lanka and the Western nations involve more than Sri Lanka’s political future.

'Sri Lanka is located at the nexus of crucial trading routes in the Indian Ocean. The United States has an interest in deterring terrorist activity and curbing piracy that could disrupt trade in the area', it further states.

Over the past two decades, Western countries became increasingly critical of Sri Lanka’s human rights record, its treatment of IDPs, and actions toward the end of the war. They have been relatively slow to recognize that the solutions that seemed promising during the periods of active political involvement by Norway, for example, are now off the table, the report stresses.

Referring to the recently concluded Presidential election, the report states that President Rajapaksa's re-election gives him an opportunity to move the country forward on multiple fronts: political reform, economic renewal, and reengagement with international players including the United States. 'His big challenge will be to recognize that peacemaking still lies ahead of him', it states.

For the United States and more broadly for the West, it is time to recognize that the formulas for political reform that were put forth in the past 20 years are effectively dead, the report states, and further stresses that these countries will need to find a new way to communicate with a leader, and a country, in no mood to listen to countries that they believe provided bad advice over the past two decades.

Referring to the Presidential election, the CSIS report says that the Election Day itself was peaceful and that other observers who have no reason to favor Rajapaksa have not confirmed any suggestion of massive fraud, and the results were consistent all over the country.

The CSIS report also comments on Sri Lanka's overall economic progress stating that its central bank forecasts the economy will grow up to 6 percent in 2010 as the end of the conflict boosts income from the agricultural and tourism sectors.

This year the country is expected to receive some 600,000 foreign tourists with the New York Times naming Sri Lanka its top tourist destination for 2010. Annual remittances, mostly from Sri Lankans abroad, have rebounded from a minor slump due to the global financial crisis. In the eight months since the end of the civil war, the Sri Lanka Stock Market Colombo All-Share Index (CSEALL) has nearly doubled, reaching 3.591 the day before the presidential election. Both the World Bank and the IMF are expected to provide funds to the island nation. The loans and the conditions attached, however, are expected to help fight politicians’ urges to delay economic reform, the CSIS report further states.