By Shamindra Ferdinando Eric Walsh presented his credentials to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Feb. 02, at the President’s House in Kandy. Wickremesinghe was flanked by Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, and Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake. Canada, with the concurrence of Sri Lanka, appointed Walsh as High Commissioner of Canada to Colombo. Walsh, who had served […]

The global economy will weaken this year as rising interest rates and Russia s war in Ukraine continue to weigh on activity. But economists are more optimistic than they were just a few months ago.

China’s lurch from extreme zero-Covid to extreme herd immunity is a watershed moment in the global ideological struggle of our age, an unanswerable illustration of why autocratic regimes are less successful in the end than messy liberal democracies. Leadership cults and totalitarian media control can at times enable breathtakingly destructive policies, and it is hard […]

The World Bank slashed its 2023 growth forecasts on Tuesday to levels teetering on the brink of recession for many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes intensifies, Russia s war in Ukraine continues, and the world s major economic engines sputter.

(AFP)Sri Lanka on Thursday welcomed the first Russian travellers aboard a new flight service that was launched after the bankrupt nation urged Moscow to help revive its beleaguered economy by sending tourists. Russia was Sri Lanka’s biggest source of visitors at the start of the year but arrivals

By Dr Laksiri Fernando One mistake we normally make in analysing the situation or crisis in Sri Lanka is to do it in isolation. Sri Lanka is unfortunately only a part of a world system. Although this situation is valid to almost all other countries, smaller or weaker a country, larger are the effects of […]

Analysis by Matthew Brooker It was the year that the scales fell from Europe’s eyes on China. Heading into 2023, the clarity engendered by Beijing’s stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine is in danger of being lost. Leaders of a continent beset by soaring energy prices and economic hardship show signs of wanting to pick […]

Some countries, such as Algeria, Jordan, Morocco and Oman, offered concessions including constitutional changes, to stall protests. Ukraine’s famed ‘Maidan Protest,’ in 2013-14 led to the overthrow of pro-Russian dictator, Yanukovych. by HARSHA KAKAR The Arab Spring in 2010-11 challenged and overthrew authoritarian governments in the Middle East and North Africa. They commenced in Tunisia […...

By Shehab Al-Makahleh and Giorgio Cafiero Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Riyadh for a three-day trip, underscoring the constantly growing importance of Sino-Saudi relations, and a clear message from Saudi Arabia that it will not take diktats from the United States. Xi’s first trip to Saudi Arabia in six years gives Saudi Crown Prince […]

BY Ajeyo Basu New Delhi: Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has based the very purpose of its existance on establishing Muslim rule over ‘Hindu’ India. However, the setbacks in the wars of 1965 and 1971 made the Pakistan Army – the actual rulers of the impoverished country – realise the futility of direct military confrontation […]

BY Lili Bayer At one end, China hawks like the U.S. are trying to converge NATO’s goals with their own desire to constrain Beijing. At the other are China softliners like Hungary who want to engage Beijing. Then there’s a vast and shifting middle: hawks that don’t want to overly antagonize Beijing; softliners that still […]

India and Indonesia think tanks – The Centre for Global Affairs and Public Policy (CGAPP) and Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) respectively, held a discussion on “G20 and Global Dynamics” and recognized the impact of close bilateral cooperation. Indonesia is all set to host the G20 summit at Bali from November 15-17. What is equally significant is that I...

The meet between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the run-up to the recent Bali summit of the G20 countries has almost overwhelmingly attracted world attention and this is only to be expected, considering the importance to the world of the principal issues in US-China relations. However, of equal importance ought […]