Written By M.Kasun Sankalpa
The current world is marked by a series of long-standing and destructive conflicts that threaten to reshape the global balance of power. Examples include the Israel–Palestine conflict in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine in Eastern Europe, and the border tensions between India and Pakistan in South Asia. Each of…
By Uthpala Wijesooriya
The night sky over Kabul on October 9, 2025, was torn apart by explosions. The unacknowledged airstrikes, which Islamabad later framed as a counter-terrorism operation targeting the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were a shocking escalation. For the first time, a regional power had struck the Afghan capital. The Taliban’s response…
by Saritha Irugalbandara
On 21 September, 108 years since the United Kingdom (UK) issued the Balfour Declaration in support of establishing a Jewish ‘homeland’ within Palestine, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK officially recognises the State of Palestine. The announcement came ahead of the 88th session of the United Nations General Assembly and…
By Deveen Balasuriya
For over the decades, border between Thailand and Cambodia has been more than just a line on a map. It has been a fault line where history, culture, and politics collide. That tension erupted violently again in mid-2025, resulting in the bloodiest cross-border fighting between the two countries in over a decade.…
Vinod Moonesinghe
The chapters relating to the Sinhalese settlement of Sri Lanka in the Mahavamsa have sparked debates over its historicity, often polarising scholars. However, neither side understands the text as a historical narrative interwoven with mythological elements, reflecting broader Indo-European traditions.
It should be remembered that the author of the Mahavamsa (like the slightly…
By Uditha Devapriya
The International Committee of the Red Cross, the ICRC, was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1863. The organization is now more than 162 years old. A three-time Nobel Peace Prize Laureate – in 1917, 1944, 1963 – it operates in over 100 countries. It is not just a neutral umpire during times…
By Hirun Matheesha
Two months ago, Sri Lanka found itself in a particularly delicate diplomatic position as a result of the sharp rise in tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attacks.
Sri Lanka has long taken pride in remaining non-aligned with rival regional powers. Yet throughout its modern history, it has been caught…
By Vinod Moonesinghe
On June 13, 2025, Israel launched an air assault on targets in Iran, managing to terminate with extreme prejudice several top Iranian commanders and scores of civilians. However, this did not decapitate the Iranian military, which responded with a barrage of missiles. These hit military targets, including “Israel’s Pentagon”, its central military…
By Kividi Koralage
The Indo-Pacific region is an expansive and strategically significant area that stretches from the eastern coast of Africa, across the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean, and extends to the western and central Pacific Ocean.
This region encompasses a diverse array of countries, including those in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia…
By Ramindu Perera
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the 1955 historic Afro-Asian Conference convened in the city of Bandung, Indonesia. The conference brought together delegates from 29 countries representing Asia and Africa. Most of them were newly independent states, having recently emerged from colonial rule.
During the conference, delegates deliberated on the need…
By Uditha Devapriya
The response in Sri Lanka to the unveiling of a genocide monument in Brampton, Canada is predictable, but troubling. For its part the response of the government, led by a left-radical outfit which prided itself, before elections last year, on doing things differently, has opted for continuity from previous regimes. While there…
By Lakmali Bhagya Manamperi
On April 22, a deadly terrorist attack in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam, located in Indian-administered Jammu & Kashmir, resulted in the deaths of 26 individuals, the majority of whom were Indian tourists.
This marked the deadliest incident in the contested territory since the 2019 Pulwama bombing, where a suicide attack…