Peace and Conflict

Factum Perspectives: Is Global Governance Failing?

International Development, Peace and ConflictJune 14, 2026163Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Dr. Jayathry Gunaratne The concept ‘global governance’, or “the sum of many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs, which is a continuing process through which conflicting or diverse interests may be accommodated and cooperative action may be taken" as defined by the Commission on Global Governance (1995) is…

Factum Perspectives: The Narrowing Path for Sri Lanka amid Global Power Play

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJune 7, 2026245Views 1Like 0Comments

By Tarun Perera The current distribution of power in the international system is best described as unbalanced multipolarity, also known as polycentricity. Several great powers coexist alongside regional hegemons, joined by middle powers exhibiting varying degrees of revisionist tendencies expressed through either unilateral power balancing or multilateral coalition building, in groupings such as BRICS and…

Factum Perspectives: Sri Lanka’s Mass Graves and the Case of Chemmani

Peace and ConflictMay 17, 2026384Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Divya Mascranghe A National Crisis Sri Lanka’s landscape is scattered with mass graves; a largely ignored national crisis that transcends communal lines affecting citizens of all ethnic backgrounds. Mass graves were first reported in post-independent Sri Lanka in 1971 following the People’s Liberation Front (or the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, JVP) uprising and thereafter in 1987 – 1990. Many of the victims of this insurrection…

Factum Perspectives: Fire, Smoke, and the Price of Everything: How the Middle East Ceasefire Lands in Colombo

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsMay 10, 2026331Views 1Like 0Comments

By Aakil Riyaz A Ceasefire Written in the Sand On 8th April 2026, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan. Both sides, however, presented narratives far removed from what had really taken place. Iran claimed that it had forced the United States to the table, while Washington insisted that…

Factum Perspectives: 10 Takeaways from the Israel-US attacks on Iran

Peace and ConflictMarch 1, 2026509Views 1Like 0Comments

By Uditha Devapriya Given that these are early hours, it is perhaps wise not to make too many predictions about what the day after this latest round of attacks on Iran will look like. As of the writing of this article, we know two things: the spate of attacks and counterattacks, and confirmation from Iranian…

Factum Perspectives: Sovereignty on Sale: Trump, Greenland, and the Unmasking of Superpower Ambition

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsFebruary 1, 2026639Views 1Like 0Comments

By Zeenath Ayub In the 21st century, a global landscape seemingly long removed from the era of imperialist expansion has been jolted by a sudden revival of old-world territorial ambitions. This shift was brought into sharp focus by the explicit interest of US President Donald Trump in the Arctic island of Greenland – a move that challenged modern…

Factum Perspective: When Conflict Becomes Routine: Structural Complacency in South Asia

History and Culture, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJanuary 18, 2026869Views 3Likes 0Comments

Written by Tarun Perera South Asia is routinely portrayed as one of the world’s most unstable regions, due to it being the location of nuclear rivalry, a hotspot for radicalized militant groups, and a geopolitical landscape where some of the most intractable territorial disputes in modern international politics remain unresolved. Despite the frequent escalation dynamics and internal…

Factum Perspective: When Caracas Echoes in Taipei

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJanuary 11, 2026509Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Gargi Wickramasinghe Shockwaves rippled across Caracas, when news broke of Operation Absolute Resolve. But the tremor did not stay there. It began travelling outward, across the Caribbean and the Pacific until it hit perhaps the most precarious geopolitical fault line in our region: the Taiwan Strait. The United States had demonstrated in the starkest possible way, that when it believes its strategic interests are at stake, it will act unilaterally, without waiting…

Factum Special Perspective: Venezuela Shows Us What Comes Next

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJanuary 9, 2026465Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Gargi Wickramasinghe In the morning after the removal of Venezuela’s disgraced President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. special forces, an emotional Chavista woman protesting in the streets of Caracas was filmed saying: “Stay alert because they are not coming for us. They are coming for our oil - and they are coming for you too.” Her warning carried the weight of history: “Understand this -what they want…

Factum Special Perspective: U.S. Actions Signal End of Rules Based Order

Peace and ConflictJanuary 8, 2026571Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Dinouk Colombage If the U.S. can justify the military intervention and deposition of Venezuela’s President, citing national security concerns, then Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine under a similar concern now stands validated. When U.S. President Donald Trump deployed a naval blockade on Venezuela in December 2024, few would have imagined that in less than…

Factum Special Perspective: Venezuela and the Future of the BRI in Latin America

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJanuary 6, 2026881Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Shiran Illanperuma For Venezuelans, the new year began with the US illegally bombing its civilian infrastructure and kidnapping democratically elected President Nicholas Maduro and First Lady Cillian Flores. Hours before the attack, President Maduro met with a Chinese delegation sent by President Xi Jinping. This delegation included Special Envoy for Latin America and the Caribbean Qiu Xiaoqi, Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Latin…

Factum Perspective: Why Venezuela matters to the Global South

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJanuary 4, 2026596Views 0Likes 0Comments

By J. Abeywickrema Who rules when rules disappear? A single man and a small circle of his closest aides, unknown even to the House of Congress, took it upon themselves to attack a sovereign nation, seize its Head of State and assume control over its administration; and the world is apparently expected to accept this as normal. At a carefully choreographed post event media appearance, US President Donald…