There are moments in the long march of international affairs when a summit, otherwise destined for the archives of routine diplomacy, acquires the resonance of a turning point. The BRICS Summit convened
The commencement of political upheavals in world affairs sometimes lies with a seemingly obscure event. This is not to say that the shooting down of a Russian Ilyushin-76 military transport plane carrying
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Independence is no substitute for good government. ~ Sir Ivor Jennings The 4th of February marks the 76th anniversary of “independence” of Ceylon from British rule. Simplistically put, independence means freedom from external
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During the month, Sri Lanka politicians were struck by presidential election fever, though people were locked in survival struggle as cost of living touched new highs. In the next two months, we
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Ever since 1995, Global Climate Meets have taken place several times with COP 28 recently held in Dubai, where a high level of concern has been expressed about the steady increase in
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On 26 January, the judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that it is ‘plausible’ that Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The ICJ called upon Israel to ‘take
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Sole Communist Party (CP) MP Weerasumana Weerasinghe broke ranks with dissident SLPP MPs on January 09 to vote for the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) Bill. Having contested the last
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There is an old proverb that when misfortunes come, they come in battalions. Coming on top of reports of American soldiers going down like nine-pins on a drone strike against the super secret CIA
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The Government of India has recently conferred the highest award on a highly respected mass leader of deprived people who passed away around 35 years ago. Additionally, an award has been announced
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Small island nation States around the world are very vulnerable to among other things small population size, remoteness from international markets, high transport costs, fragile land and maritime ecosystems. They seem particularly
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Since mid-2023, a series of assassination plots have strained India’s relations with Canada and the U.S. In June 2023, a Sikh separatist activist living in Canada was reportedly killed on orders from Indian
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Unless there is a major political predicament, the Presidential elections will be held between September and October 2024. That is for what all political parties and formations are now getting ready. It
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Russia, North Korea, and Iran are the world’s most powerful rogue states. They have been working to strengthen their cooperation since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, united by the draconian sanctions
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I have written a great deal about socio-economic cycles but far less on institutional cycles, specifically how the fourth institutional cycle in American history will emerge. But now some issues in the
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In less than three years, the erosion in the US hegemony that began cascading with the defeat in Afghanistan in August 2021 spread to Eurasia, followed by the massive eruption in West
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Unlike soldiers, diplomats and government officials are like the three wise monkeys. One such person not in that league I met more than a year ago told me about Chinese intrusions across
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