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Sri Lanka is preparing for its first presidential election since the 2022 popular uprising that removed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from power. Recent polls indicate that Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the People's Liberation Front (JVP), is the frontrunner. The JVP, once a Marxist-Leninist party known for violent insurgency, has evolved into a prominent anti-establishment force. The JVP is part of the National People's Power (NPP) political alliance, which aims to bring social justice and transparency to Sri Lanka's governance. The NPP has gained traction by capitalizing on public discontent over corruption and economic hardships. While the NPP's rise suggests a critical moment in Sri Lanka's struggle for effective governance, questions remain about its economic policies and stance on the IMF agreement. [Extracted from the article]

The foreign policy of Ceylon under the premiership of D.S. Senanayake maintained a distinct alignment with its former coloniser Great Britain. The zenith of this relationship was the defence agreement which came into effect upon independence in 1948. Utilising the existing scholarship on neorealism and the concept of security dilemma, analysis of the reasons behind this strategic alignment exposes the threat perception Ceylon faced from its regional hegemon, India. This study surveys such threat perceptions faced by the island at the time of independence and argues that this led to a balancing strategy with Britain. It first locates Ceylon’s foreign policy employing the taxonomies of balancing, bandwagoning and hedging and then examines how Ceylon’s extra-regional alignment with the UK enabled her to eschew from a security dilemma with India.