Regional Geopolitics

Factum Perspective: When Borders Boil, Rivers Run Dry – Kashmir Tensions Shake India-Pakistan Water Diplomacy

Climate and environment, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsMay 11, 202585Views 0Likes 0Comments

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…

Factum Special Perspective: Tempting Escalation – After Operation Sindoor

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsMay 9, 2025118Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Uditha Devapriya With India and Pakistan baying for each other’s blood and the media in both countries, and particularly in India, beating war drums, it would be futile to expect a lessening of tensions overnight. The problem is that this is not the world of 2016 or 2019: when disputes between the two countries…

Factum Perspective: India and Pakistan – The Razor’s Edge

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsApril 27, 2025131Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Uditha Devapriya Last week’s attacks in Kashmir have left India and Pakistan in a tangled web. More than anything, there remains a big question mark over the future of their relations with each other and the impact this is bound to have on South Asia and the wider geopolitics of Asia. The attacks in…

Factum Perspective: Katchatheevu and the Indian Media – Some Candid Reflections

Maritime Security, Peace and Conflict, Regional Geopolitics, UncategorizedApril 6, 2025253Views 2Likes 0Comments

By Rear Admiral Y. N. Jayarathna (Retd.) The St Anthony’s Church festival in Katchatheevu recently wrapped up for the year. As has been the case for the past many years, both Sri Lankan and Indian Central governments worked hard to ensure that the festival took place with due respect for religious formalities, involving devotees from…

Factum Special Perspective: Modi in Sri Lanka

Health and Economic Cooperation, Regional GeopoliticsApril 2, 2025380Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Uditha Devapriya Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to land in Sri Lanka on Friday, April 4. Over the next two days he is expected to engage with the Sri Lankan government over several agreements and pacts, encompassing trade, health, education, energy, and of course defense. News reports point to six agreements in…

Factum Perspective: Decolonisation Delayed – The Ongoing Struggle for the Chagos Islands

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, History and Culture, Maritime Security, Regional GeopoliticsMarch 30, 2025398Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Hannes Romare Exclusive to Factum from EPIS Thinktank on Foreign and Security Policy The Chagos Islands, or The British Indian Ocean Territory? Is the Chagos archipelago a part of Mauritius or does it belong to the United Kingdom? These questions will soon get a definite answer as a deal on the status of the…

Factum Special Perspective: The Fall of a House of Cards – A Global Reckoning in 2024

International Development, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsDecember 31, 2024322Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Deshani Samaragunarathna The year 2024 has been one marked by global tumult, with the world seemingly lurching from one crisis to another. From the Ukrainian frontlines to the simmering Middle East, to the escalating conflicts across Africa, and the erosion of liberal democracies in the West, the international system appears on the verge of…

Factum Special Perspective: China’s role in global transformation

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, History and Culture, International Development, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsDecember 24, 2024476Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Vinod Moonesinghe We bear witness to a period of accelerated global transformation, with the rise of the East and the relative decline of the West reshaping the global political and economic landscape, benefitting the Global South. China, whose rapid economic growth and expanding influence play a pivotal role in this new era of global…

Factum Perspective: The Need for an Integrated Border Management System

Peace and Conflict, Regional Geopolitics, UncategorizedDecember 22, 2024318Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Rear Admiral Y. N. Jayarathne (Retd.) The launch of the book Labour Migrants from South Asia: Issues and Concerns (Consortium of South Asian Think Tanks: COSATT), on November 12, 2024, in Colombo, Sri Lanka got me thinking more about the subject, as the discussions during the ceremony highlighted various concerns on the question of…

Factum Special Perspective: Syria and the Dominos of History

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsDecember 11, 2024436Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Kusum Wijetilleke The Golan Heights is a strategically important plateau in the south-west of Syria, just one of the many areas of the Levant that have been contested for several decades. The Sea of Galilee, called Lake Tiberias, in the Golan Heights, feeds the major water sources of the region including the Jordan River;…

Factum Perspective: Digital Dynamics – Media and Geopolitics in the Modern Middle East

Peace and Conflict, Regional Geopolitics, Tech CooperationNovember 3, 2024610Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Deshani Samaragunarathna In the contemporary landscape of the Middle East, information technology has become a potent tool for power. The region's social and political landscapes are diversifying, reflecting significant changes in how information is disseminated, consumed, and wielded. Over the past few decades, particularly since the Arab Spring, the media landscape has transformed dramatically.…

Factum Special Perspective: Testing time for India’s foreign policy

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsOctober 31, 2024490Views 0Likes 0Comments

By P. K. Balachandran India has reached a stage where it sees itself as a power that can pursue its “national interest” in defiance of the top dogs of the world order. Undeniably, India has successes in the economic and technological fields to validate its claim to an extent. India is wooed by the major…