Factum LK – Page 4

Factum Perspective: Mission Accomplished? – The War in Iraq at 20

History and Culture, Peace and Conflict, UncategorizedMarch 21, 2023778Views 0Likes 0Comments

Vinod Moonesinghe At the beginning of 2003, the United States seemed on top of the world. The sole superpower, its ideologues spoke openly of America as the “global policeman”, fighting multiple major wars enforcing a “Pax Americana.” That March, the US invaded Iraq, setting in motion a sequence of events which resulted in today’s increasingly…

Factum Perspective: Central Bank Digital Currencies and Emerging Economies – Part I

Health and Economic CooperationMarch 13, 2023956Views 0Likes 0Comments

Read Part II of this article here. By Kasun Thilina Kariyawasam In a survey conducted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in 2021, 90% of Central Banks said they were exploring Central Bank Digital Currencies or CBDCs, with 54% considering issuing one within six years. With its CBDC – the digital renminbi…

Factum Perspective: Janissaries and Reluctant Fundamentalists

History and CultureMarch 5, 20231KViews 0Likes 0Comments

A comparative review and reading of Nayomi Munaweera's Island of a Thousand Mirrors and Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist. By Dhanuka Bandara It is becoming increasingly clear to the more astute observers that the historical process has entered a paradigm shift. The “black swan” event of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of…

Factum Perspective: The rise of the regional film – A paradigm shift in South Asian cinema

History and CultureFebruary 27, 20231KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By Deshani Samaragunarathna “Telugu is the new Hindi.” Ram Gopal Varma Unlike the American cinema, there is no single film hub in the Indian subcontinent. Bollywood has long held the distinction of being India's “national cinema.” With stars such as Priyanka Chopra making forays into Hollywood and artistes like A. R Rahman winning Academy Awards,…

Factum Special Perspective: Safeguarding Sri Lanka

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsFebruary 22, 2023986Views 0Likes 0Comments

Read this article in Tamil: vidiyal.lk/post/--2816 By Vinod Moonesinghe Sri Lanka has, for 75 years, faced many internal and external threats, ranging from civil unrest, through insurgencies and military coup attempts, to overt acts of war or more subtle economic sabotage or sanctions by foreign powers. It has met them with varying degrees of…

Factum Perspective: The Chinese “spy balloon” saga

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsFebruary 19, 20231KViews 0Likes 1Comment

Read this article in Tamil: vidiyal.lk/post/--2821 By Rathindra Kuruwita On February 1, 2023, former editor of Billings Gazette Chase Doak and Billings Gazette photographer Larry Mayer snapped a large flying object over Billings, Montana. Doak had initially thought it was a UFO. The photographs were published in the Gazette, and were soon picked up…

Factum Perspective: Indo-Sri Lankan relations since independence – A checkered history

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Health and Economic Cooperation, History and Culture, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsFebruary 13, 20231KViews 0Likes 0Comments

Read this article in Tamil: vidiyal.lk/post/--2812 By P. K. Balachandran India-Sri Lanka relations are undoubtedly at their best now, thanks to India’s timely and generous assistance to its financially-beleaguered southern neighbor. But in the past 75 years or more, bilateral relations have been overwhelmingly troubled. Therefore, the million-dollar question now is: Will India’s help…

Factum Perspective: How Sri Lanka obtained independence

History and CultureFebruary 4, 2023632Views 0Likes 0Comments

Read this article in Tamil: vidiyal.lk/post/--2817 By Chandani Kirinde In 1918, George Wille, a Member of Ceylon’s Legislative Council, cited an interesting metaphor to describe the growing weariness among the Ceylonese about the lack of any political rights, despite being tied to Britain for over a century. Speaking at the second reform conference organized…

Factum Special Perspective: Victoria Nuland in Sri Lanka

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsFebruary 1, 20231KViews 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, 20231KViews 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, 2023786Views 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, 2023904Views 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…