For the first time in twenty five years, Northern Sri Lankans will live unburdened by violent conflict. This is a great opportunity for northern and already �€œliberated�€ eastern province Sri Lankans to rapidly advance towards their peace-time potential. Now focused on rebuilding democratic governance and infrastructure along with expanding educational capacity and economic advancement, northern and eastern Sri Lankans should hit the ground running.

On the 11th of February, 2009 Morgan Tsvangarai, leader of the opposition in Zimbabwe was sworn in as Prime Minister of his country. This came on the heels of months of international pressure on him to adhere to a power sharing agreement between his party, Movement for Democratic Change, and President Robert Mugabe���s ZANU-PF.

We live in the age of knowledge. Knowledge is the basis of the 21st economy, security and progress at the macro as well as micro levels. The individual, the society or the nation that has developed high skills in processing knowledge is bound to succeed in the modern world.

On a recent visit to China, the global financial crisis was the centre of most conversations. We debated the cause of it- and answers ranged from greed on Wall Street and the sub-prime crisis to lifestyles not in sync with real earnings, of people living on credit, in debt and beyond their means. The recent announcement of the Chinese government of a stimulus package of Yuan 4 trillion to create domestic demand for Chinese goods also figured a lot in our conversations. Western governments have also been discussing bail out measures and have begun to implement them. So, the financial system in the process of being rescued.

When a state fails to learn the art of creation, it develops the skill of destruction.

As Somalia�€™s pirates continue to attack merchant vessels along the Gulf of Aden - undeterred by the presence of the world�€™s Navies - it is pertinent to question what measures the international community should enforce to ensure that one of the world�€™s major shipping lanes is safeguarded, and that the lives of sailors are protected. 

The first decade of the 21st century has seen a catastrophic number of wars, invasions, terror attacks, and death. From Manhattan to Mumbai, via Mosul and Mogadishu, no country, religion and culture have been spared. 

In Sri Lanka�€™s civil war, the Sri Lankan military seems poised to take the rebel capitol Kilinochchi in northern Sri Lanka. Across the thin waterway separating Sri Lanka from India, politicians in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu have recently called attention to the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils caught in an increasingly aggressive Sri Lankan counter-insurgency effort against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.