The romantic phase of the Arab spring is long over. Passionate youth on the streets of Cairo and Tunis challenging the long standing dictatorships of those countries was an iconic moment in recent history bringing back memories East Germans scaling the Berlin wall to topple a dreaded regime and with it a Cold War divide.andnbsp;

Along with China, India was the biggest economic success story of the last two decades. Recording phenomenal economic growth, China averaging over 10% and India in the range of eight, these two nations alone have pulled more people out of poverty than any time in human history.andnbsp;

The phenomenal economic and military strides made by China in recent years have made several of its neighbours nervous and with good reason too. Recent events in the seas off the Philippines suggest that the peaceful rise that was promised by Chinese leaders for decades and hoped for its Southeastandnbsp; Asian neighbours may not materialise as, this once mighty nation restores itself to its formal glory.

The prospect of war in the Middle East rose dramatically last week when America's most senior defence official was reported to have claimed that there is a real possibility of Israel sticking its arch nemesis in the region, Iran within the first half of this year

When on 4 February 2011, General Thein Sein, by then retired from the army, was appointed as the Head of State by Myanmarandrsquo;s newly formed parliament there was little expectation that this would be a historic moment in the troubled South East Asian country

Last week saw overwhelming criticism of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) report from the opposite ends of the ethnic spectrum

In the third century BC preceding the military conquest of Rajarata by King Dutta Gamini Abaya, his father Kavan Tissa had the unenviable task of uniting all regional kingdoms against the mighty Chola who were at Anuradhapura

"...On our side, we have to be mindful of reactions in Tamil Nadu where there are special sensitivities and relationships bearing on this matter. I believe it is in our joint interest to ensure that passions are not inflamed in either country, since this would defeat our objective of trying to remove an irritant in our relations and of bringing an all-round cooperation on the basis of goodwill and mutual trust..