Peace and Conflict – Page 10

After the storm: Flight SU-289 and Sri Lanka-Russia ties

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJune 7, 2022840Views 0Likes 0Comments

Cartoon by Awantha Artigala By Uditha Devapriya On June 2, the Commercial High Court of Colombo issued an enjoining order against Flight SU-289 over a lease matter, in effect preventing it from returning home. The flight had been handled by Aeroflot, the Russian airline at the center of a controversy over Western sanctions. The order had…

The fall of Anuradhapura and the lessons of history

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJune 5, 20222KViews 0Likes 0Comments

By Professor Raj Somadeva The Pali Chronicles, namely the Mahavamsa and Culavamsa (written in the fifth century and 13th century CE respectively) do not celebrate all the kings of Sri Lanka, though they valorize quite a number of them. Very often they pin the blame for the disintegration of the State on those who ruled…

Factum Perspective: The case for a credible interim government in Sri Lanka

Peace and ConflictApril 3, 2022469Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Chandani Kirinde Sri Lanka is making international headlines once again. There are growing calls for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to appoint an interim government to address the urgent economic problems faced by the people, after protestors approaching his residence over a fuel crisis, power cuts, food shortage and mounting inflation clashed with police on…

Factum Perspective: UNHRC and Sri Lanka: much ado to deliver nothing?

Peace and ConflictMarch 14, 2022457Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Lahirru Pothmulla Thrust in economic woes, the ongoing 49th United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session has not been in local limelight as seen in previous years. But the human rights situation in Sri Lanka was once again a topic of concern at the ongoing hearings. To some Sri Lankans, this Council has been…

Factum Perspective: Is violence a permanent aspect of international relations?

Peace and ConflictMarch 6, 2022547Views 0Likes 0Comments

“...right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must” - Thucydides, Book 5 By Lakna Paranamanna Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had the world divided into two groups. Those who condemned the move, who identified Russian attacks as…

Factum Perspective: Ukraine Crisis – End of NATO expansion and restoration of the “Russian World”

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsFebruary 27, 2022716Views 0Likes 0Comments

“I am convinced that the true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible precisely in partnership with Russia. Our spiritual, human, civilizational ties have been formed for centuries, go back to the same sources, tempered by common trials, achievements and victories. Our kinship is passed down from generation to generation. It is in the hearts, in the memory of people…

Factum Perspective: Ukraine – A lone democracy fighting a nuclear state

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsFebruary 27, 2022540Views 0Likes 0Comments

By: Dr Ranga Kalansooriya and Omar Rajarathnam As of yesterday, nuclear state Russia for the third day bombarded sovereign and less powerful state Ukraine. The powerful Western democracies and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) states who vowed to stand with Ukraine are standing, not the way Ukraine and its people expected, but by issuing…

Factum Perspective: PTA Repeal or amend? Sri Lanka’s dilemma on anti-terror laws

Peace and ConflictFebruary 19, 2022472Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Jagath Liyana Arachchi and Lakna Paranamanna In a bid to appease the international community, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris tabled the amendments to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) the past week[1]; a move rejected by multiple international organisations including the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) as ‘woefully inadequate’[2]. Why has the…

Factum Perspective: Russia vs. Ukraine: New Avatar of the Cold War

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJanuary 29, 2022630Views 0Likes 0Comments

By M.S.M.Ayub Tensions between Russia and its neighbor Ukraine is not a manifestation of a clash between the security interests of the two nations. It is indeed the current avatar of the old Cold War that many believe had ceased after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Is there a danger of Russia invading…

Factum Perspective: U.S.-Russia conflict over Ukraine unnecessary

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJanuary 24, 2022560Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Chamara Sumanapala The media has given credence to U.S. government speculation that Russia is looking to violate Ukraine’s sovereign borders. Western sanctions will be a factor in deterring such action and Russia has several advantages in turning the heat up on the issue for various interests. One thing almost certain, it is unlikely…

Factum Perspective – China still Myanmar’s game changer

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsDecember 29, 2021560Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Dr Ranga Kalansooriya A makeshift hospital of PDF in the fighting areas Aerial bombings, burning civilian villages and mass killings have now become a common feature in Junta-led Myanmar, mainly in the areas what pro-democratic forces call as ‘Liberated Areas.’ Air strikes by Myanmar military have intensified for the past few weeks near the Myanmar-Thailand…

Factum Perspective – Will Pakistan-Sri Lanka ties survive Sialkot killing?

Maritime Security, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsDecember 20, 2021503Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Kamran Rehmat - Islamabad The ghastly lynching of Priyantha Kumara, a Sri Lankan manager at the Rajco textile factory in Silakot, which reportedly supplied the kits for the Pakistan cricket team at the recently concluded T20 World Cup, sent tremors across Sri Lanka and Pakistan. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Imran Khan…