By Masom Jan Masomy, Research Fellow SAFN 21st June 2023 On June 5, 2023, the United Nations celebrated World Environmental Day with the trend #BeatPlasticPollution to create a clean and healthy environment. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) also promoted the same trend through its social media pages in Afghanistan to raise attention to plastic pollution…
By Prof Swaran Singh – Director SAFN June 7th, 2023 Pakistan’s unfolding political drama has taken the focus off its piecemeal economic collapse in the making and the resultant social turmoil and plight of its citizens. For the region and Pakistan watchers around the world, it has eclipsed all other issues including the Ukraine war….
By Rathindra Kuruwita – Associate Fellow SAFN 5th June 2023 Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe visited Japan, almost immediately after the G7 meeting ended, in a bid to rebuild Sri Lanka’s relationship with Japan, which had soured in the last few years due to the sudden cancellation of projects, and to seek Japanese assistance in…
By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, Executive Director SAFN Photo Credit: Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons ‘When the elephants dance, the grass gets beaten,’ the great power competition, rivalry, and conflict pose a significant threat to many nations. With rigid policies, Washington has lost the flexibility and agility in its foreign policy…
By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, Executive Director SAFN “A journey in search of the Malwatu Oya is a journey to the heart of an ancient civilization” in Sri Lanka, says Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda, who discovered the historical context and brought out the beauty of Malwatu Oya in his documentary. Unfortunately, in the present day, her beauty and its…
By Mimrah Ghafoor – Associate Fellow at SAFN June 5th, 2023 Pic: Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives with State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi The year 2022 marked both the bicentennial of formal diplomatic relations between the Maldives and China, and the penultimate year leading to the Maldives’ presidential elections, scheduled for September…
Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, Jerome C. Glenn and Josh Bowes As India’s population of 1.428 billion will pass China’s 1.426 billion this April 2023 (see graph), perceptions toward India and China will change. India’s strong regional leadership and growing economy – will it become a world leader acting like many others throughout history playing zero-sum geopolitical power…
