Sri Lanka

On Friday, just two days after Wickremesinghe secured the presidency, police and security forces conducted a violent pre-dawn raid on the main protest encampment in Galle Face

Political stability is central to getting Pakistan’s economy back on track with IMF assistance and avoiding a debt default

In the spring of 2021, President Rajapaksa made an unusual decision: He banned synthetic fertilizer and pesticide imports practically overnight, forcing Sri Lanka’s millions of farmers to go organic.

Although Parliamentary Speaker Mahinda Abeywardena announced Saturday that the president would resign “to ensure a peaceful transition,” that won’t take effect immediately, and further chaos and violence could occur before the July 13 transition date — not to mention the risk that both the president and prime minister could find a way to cling to power in that time.

People wait in line for days just to buy fuel; inflation was at 54.6 percent as of June according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka; and the government owes its various creditors $51 billion after having defaulted on its repayments for the first time in May.

The domestic political turmoil unfolding in Sri Lanka also links back to the instability across the globe, including the war in Ukraine and all of its consequences.