Factum LK – Page 11

Factum Special Perspective: Victoria Nuland in Sri Lanka

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsFebruary 1, 20232KViews 0Likes 0Comments

Read this article in Tamil: vidiyal.lk/post/--2805 By Uditha Devapriya US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland is on a tour in South Asia this week. From January 28 to February 3, she will be travelling to Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka, before flying to Qatar. Each of these visits will center…

Factum Perspective: Robert Clive and the taking of India

History and Culture, Regional GeopoliticsJanuary 30, 20233KViews 1Like 0Comments

By Vinod Moonesinghe A 2002 poll carried out by the BBC, accompanying its TV series “Great Britons”, found that most viewers fancied wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill as the “Greatest Briton”. His sole claim to fame lay in making stirring speeches when the British Empire stood on the threshold of defeat. Yet his pro-US policies…

Factum Perspective: Sumitra Peries – A Sri Lankan woman of the world

History and CultureJanuary 22, 20232KViews 0Likes 0Comments

As Ambassador / Undated / Courtesy of Sumitra Peries Read this article in Tamil: vidiyal.lk/post/--2806 By Uditha Devapriya Sumitra Peries passed away last Thursday, 19 January. One of the last definitive auteurs of the Sri Lankan cinema, Sumitra was also one of the last few international figures from the island nation. Having begun her career…

Factum Perspective: The road ahead for Emerging Markets

Health and Economic Cooperation, International DevelopmentJanuary 16, 20232KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By Kasun Thilina Kariyawasam “The dollar is our currency, but it's your problem.” John Connally, US Treasury Secretary, 1971 In the post-COVID global economy, Emerging Markets were hit with a double-whammy downward spiral. Even prior to the pandemic, Emerging Markets (EMs) were struggling with high inflation, lack of investment, unemployment, and other issues. Then COVID-19…

Factum Perspective: Elections in Asia – A game-changer in a game-changing region

Regional GeopoliticsJanuary 9, 20231KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By Dr Ranga Kalansooriya Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev tweeted his predictions for 2023 last month. He noted that “all the largest stock markets and financial activity will leave the US and Europe and move to Asia.” At the outset, such claims may seem overstretched. In fact, however, this was hardly a new prediction.…

Factum Perspective: Scientific literacy – Are we there yet?

Science and TechnologyJanuary 2, 20232KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By Sachie Panawala In its report in 2018, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) defined scientific literacy as an understanding of how the knowledge of science changes the manner one can interact with the world, and the way it can be used to accomplish broader goals. Kathleen…

Factum Perspective: Peace on Earth, the message of Christmas?

History and Culture, Peace and ConflictDecember 25, 20222KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By Vinod Moonesinghe With the expansion of proselytizing Christian empires in the centuries before the second millennium, Christianity became a world religion. As Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta said, "When the missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened…

Factum Perspective: Buddhism in the Cold War

History and Culture, Regional GeopoliticsDecember 19, 20223KViews 0Likes 2Comments

By Chandani Kirinde What prompted the US government to put in place a “Buddhist policy” in Southeast Asia during the Cold War and how successful were these clandestine efforts at using a predominant religion of the region to counter the spread of communism? And did Sri Lanka play a role in shaping the US policy of co-opting Buddhists…

Factum Special Analysis: Emerging Markets and International Sovereign Bonds

Health and Economic Cooperation, Regional GeopoliticsDecember 15, 20227KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By Kasun Thilina Kariyawasam A total of USD 1,737.2 billion has been invested in the sovereign debt of emerging markets over the last 12 years. As a result of the high interest rates, emerging markets (EMs) paid 63% of the total interest on the bonds. Since 2020, Argentina, Zambia, and Sri Lanka have defaulted on…

Factum Perspective: Indonesia’s new draft criminal code

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsDecember 5, 20221KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By P. K. Balachandran In a sharp turn towards authoritarianism and archaic religiosity, Indonesia’s parliament is expected to pass, later in December, a new Criminal Code that will extend the ambit of blasphemy, ban criticism of State Institutions and criminalize cohabitation and sexual relations outside wedlock. The proposed code, which smacks of Wahhabi Islam, is…

Factum Perspective: Are China and Russia imperialist?

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsNovember 28, 20222KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By Shiran Illanperuma Recent geopolitical and economic developments disrupting the US-led unipolar world order have renewed debate on the concept of imperialism. In the post-war period, the term was politically deployed by National Liberation movements around the world, and worker states in the Communist bloc, to describe the policies and actions of the West (namely…

Factum Special Perspective: Four shortfalls in Budget 2023

UncategorizedNovember 23, 20221KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By Sunil Abhayawardhane While delivering his budget speech in parliament, President Ranil Wickremesinghe asked perhaps the most important question he could have: “Where did we go wrong?” President Wickremesinghe asked the same question in 1989, when he was the Minister of Industries. Though the answer to it is as self-evident as it was back then,…