The re-election of Donald J. Trump as US president has ignited debate on how his ‘America First’ foreign policy will be put into action, as he gears up to enter the Oval Office once again next year. In contrast to the liberal internationalist vision espoused by President Biden, Trump’s doctrine has been touted as more isolationist and transactional in nature

It has been a week of mixed messaging from Washington on Sri Lanka. In Geneva on Wednesday, the United States as a leading member of the Core Group, successfully led a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for war crimes and called for an end to impunity on the island. But in Colombo the very next day, the US gifted the military responsible for those very war crimes a brand new aircraft, whilst pledging to build closer ties. These seemingly hypocritical actions are not new.

Sri Lanka’s newly elected president, Aruna Kumara Dissanayake, has made it clear that strengthening ties with India, the regional powerhouse, will be a cornerstone of his foreign policy. Within hours of his election victory, Dissanayake held his first meeting with a foreign official—India’s High Commissioner, Santosh Jha, in Colombo.

Sri Lanka’s new president Anura Dissanayake has been in power for less than a week but already has brought about a range of changes. From his appointment of Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister to his rapid stripping down on unnecessary government expenditure and pledge to stamp out corruption, many on the island have been pleasantly surprised by his seemingly progressive early moves. But it has not all been positive for the newly crowned president. For the Tamil people, the few steps he has taken so far have been disappointing.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has officially been appointed Sri Lanka’s next president. It marks a remarkable turnaround for a party that staged two violent insurrections against the Sri Lankan state. Indeed, it was a result that left many observers around the world somewhat taken aback by the direction Sri Lanka may be heading in. For those on the island, however, this is not a surprise.

 

This week, the draft text of a new resolution on Sri Lanka was circulated as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) currently hosts its 57th session in Geneva. The resolution proposes extending the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

With Sri Lanka’s presidential hopefuls tussling to announce their candidacy this week, there was a familiar name back in the headlines - Rajapaksa. The latest candidate in the lineage, Namal, the son of the former president who oversaw the slaughter of countless Tamils, has formally been put forward to stand by his ultra-nationalist party backers.