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Factum Perspective: The US agenda in Bangladesh

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsAugust 1, 2022663Views 0Likes 0Comments

By P. K. Balachandran The US agenda in developing countries seems for many a matter of raking up human rights issues, fostering civil unrest, and forcing weak governments to sign defense deals to counter China’s growing influence. In South Asia, this tactic is being applied in Bangladesh, a fiercely independent-minded country under the leadership of…

Factum Perspective: Will Sri Lanka slip up over Russian oil?

Health and Economic Cooperation, International Development, Regional GeopoliticsJuly 24, 2022804Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya Sri Lanka’s outgoing president* Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in one of his last acts as head of state took a long-delayed step of talking to his Russian counterpart President Vladimir Putin on the phone, to request desperately needed fuel supplies on credit. According to a post on his Twitter account on Wednesday (6) he…

Factum Perspective: Anatomy of a protest

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJuly 11, 2022667Views 0Likes 0Comments

Courtesy of Dhananjaya Samarakoon By Uditha Devapriya Protest movements have historically been decided by economic factors, most prominently shortages, queues, and price hikes. The Arab Spring is an obvious case in point, but a better, more significant example would be the February Revolution in Russia, which was spurred by bread shortages. Left with nothing to lose,…

Factum Perspective: The economic aspect of foreign relations in South Asia

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJuly 3, 2022749Views 0Likes 0Comments

All South Asian countries, not just Sri Lanka, are facing economic problems such as a shortage of essentials commodities, rising inflation, fall in the value of the local currency against the US dollar, and social and political unrest triggered by economic issues. Only the intensity varies. The roots of these domestic problems lie both in…

Factum Perspective: Sri Lanka, Singapore, and the politics of oil

Health and Economic Cooperation, Regional GeopoliticsJune 27, 2022875Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Rathindra Kuruwita On June 19, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera informed the media that giving the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) a monopoly over the oil industry was a mistake, adding that the government was taking steps to allow multinational oil companies to recommence operations in the country. The Minister also…

Factum Perspective: From “300” to the Ukraine

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJune 19, 2022894Views 1Like 0Comments

Manipulating Euro-Asian tensions in historiography and modern media By Vinod Moonesinghe Herodotus said that the Greeks retaliated to some Phoenicians kidnapping Io, an Argive princess, by kidnapping Europa, a Phoenician princess. These tit-for-tat abductions continued until Paris of Troy abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. The Persians considered the heavy-handed Greek retaliation as the…

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

Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJune 7, 2022882Views 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: Pakistan’s economic storm and lessons for Sri Lanka

Health and Economic Cooperation, Regional GeopoliticsMay 29, 2022803Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Muhammad Aftab Alam Covid19-related restrictions have devasted the world’s most vulnerable economies. The situation has essentially worsened since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, crushing countries whose Gross Domestic Product depends on exports of single-source goods and services such as tourism, imports of essential goods such as fuel and gas, and sustained inflows…

Australia under Albanese: A return to form?

Regional GeopoliticsMay 24, 2022597Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Uditha Devapriya Anthony Albanese is now officially the 31st Prime Minister of Australia. The fourth Australian Labor Party leader to win the country’s premiership since World War II, Albanese has given every indication that his policies will be different from those of his predecessor, Scott Morrison. These obviously include foreign relations. Considering recent geopolitical…

Factum Perspective: Foreign policy for the next 12 months

Regional GeopoliticsMay 17, 2022786Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Uditha Devapriya and Zeenath Ayub Barely 10 minutes after his appointment as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung congratulated Ranil Wickremesinghe on Twitter, emphasizing the need for political stability. Although the jury is still out on Mr Wickremesinghe and whether his appointment will pacify those asking for Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s…

Factum Perspective: Indo-Filipino lessons for crisis-hit Sri Lanka

Regional GeopoliticsMay 1, 2022678Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Dr Ranga Kalansooriya and Zeenath Ayub Caption: Then Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, wife Imelda Marcos with President Ronald Raegan in the White House 1981 Sri Lanka’s economy is in shambles. Exacerbating this is a political deadlock between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who are exchanging pleasantries…