By Sarasi Paranamanna
The contentious principle of Right to Protect (R2P), was utilized by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) most sanctimoniously in their intervention in Libya. Whether the principle was used as a result of opportunistic humanitarianism or was in a pragmatic sense is a debate for another day. But in the backdrop…
By Dr Ranga Kalansooriya
Mullah Baradar of Taliban tipped to become the Supreme Spiritual Leader of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Six months ago, the people of Myanmar took to the streets of Yangon against its military junta that toppled a democratically elected government and jailed an elected leader - Aung Saan Suu Kyi. Now,…
By Seevali
The Government of Sri Lanka is planning to bring in professionals into the Foreign Service from various fields, mainly from some selected corporate entities. The last project carried out during the tenure of late Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister in the 90s, under President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga aimed to achieve…
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Many assume that the Chinese Community Party (CCP) combs the country’s social media platforms in search of critical content with the intention of putting people under house arrest. And of course, sometimes bloggers and message board theorists do get placed in house arrest; however, more often the CCP does this to know…
By Omar Rajarathnam
China is a rising public diplomacy power. With infinite money to project its image, it deploys West-based social media platforms to amplify people-to-people ties in democracies world over including Sri Lanka. Reciprocity is a key aspect of diplomacy, but not in this case because in China access to social media platforms hailing…
By Adnan Rehmat from Islamabad and Omar Rajarathnam from Colombo
Not all military interventions in modern times have happy endings, but the climax currently playing out in Afghanistan has an unprecedented twist. The country is at imminent risk of undoing its state-building gains of the last twenty years as a representative polity aligned with the…
By M.S.M.Ayub
In October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident who penned columns critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the world-renowned Washington Post was killed and dismembered by operatives loyal to the prince in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul. The democratic power centres were backward in holding the prince accountable.
In February…
By Dr. Ranga Kalansooriya
Credit - Than Lwin Khat Passing out ceremony of a newly trained platoon of Peoples Defence Force in Myanmar Jungles on 25 June 2021. The training provided by ethnic armed organizations
Myanmar is sitting on a time bomb. A rapidly changing political fabric following the 1 February 2021 military takeover which most…