The New Normal: Platform for Serious Talks

On November 3rd of this year, voters of the United States are going to vote for the presidential election.  Who is going to win the election? Many pre-polls and predictions are occupying the media. Out of all of them one man who earned the credibility and reputation for predicting the winner of the presidential elections since the early 80s.  His predictions were never wrong.  In 1981 He and his intellectual partner late Prof Vladimir Keilis-Borok published a phenomenal paper in which they have introduced a scientific formula to predict the winner of one of the most important democratic elections in the world.   Guest of this episode of the New Normal is Allan Jay Lichtman. He is Professor of History at American University.  He received his PhD from Harvard University in 1973 with a speciality in modern American history and quantitative methods. He became an Assistant Professor of History at American University in 1973 and a Full Professor in 1980. He has been an expert witness in more than 75 civil and voting rights cases.   Professor Lichtman talked with Nilantha Ilangamuwa by joining The New Normal from his home in Washington DC.

The use of economic sanctions has throughout history been an integral component of the foreign policy of most nation-states. As a blunt tool of diplomacy, the concept of sanctions has been around at least from the time of the ancient Greeks, when Athens imposed a trade embargo on its neighbour Megara in 432 B.C. Since then, there has been a long history of countries blockading their enemies to compel a change in behaviour.  In the late nineteenth century, economic sanctions were generally used during times of war and took the form Export controls on strategic supplies and blockades against targeted countries.  But how did this tactic morph into today’s “targeted” or “smart” sanctions — measures such as arms embargoes, asset freezes, and travel bans on key individuals and organizations? They may be more humane and high-tech than a flotilla at sea, but are sanctions any more effective today than they were 2,400 years ago?  The history tells us, how sanctions failed.  Our guest t of this episode is Alena Douhan. She is a professor of the Department of International Private and European Law, Belarusian State University. Her research is focused on the law of international security, application of sanctions by states and international organizations, status of individual in International law, Human Rights in Cyber-Age, law of international treaties. She was appointed by the Human Rights Council, as the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. She took her office on 25 March 2020.  She talked to Nilantha Ilangamuwa from her residence in Minsk, Belarus

Unfortunately, a group of criminals have robbed and destroyed Venezuela in the last few decades.  Therefore, the prevailing political crisis is deepening day by day; people are struggling to get rid of this highly sophisticated mafia rule, María Corina Machado one of the leading opposition figures in Venezuela said. In this episode of The New Normal, Nilantha Ilangamuwa talked to María Corina Machado to have insights about the situation in the oil-rich nation in Latin America. Maria is a founding member of Vente Venezuela. She was elected Member of the National Assembly of Venezuela in September 2010, having obtained the highest number of votes of any candidate in the race. However, for her role in civil society, she was accused by the Hugo Chávez government of conspiracy and treason and was forbidden from leaving the country without judicial authorization for several years. On March 2014, she spoke before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States, after the Republic of Panama, yielded its speaking rights so that she could denounce Human Rights violations in Venezuela. For this reason, according to her, she was arbitrarily removed from her elected post by the President of the National Assembly. She says it a violation of due process and international customary law. She faces accusations of treason, terrorism and homicide, as well as repeated threats of incarceration. But her fight for democracy is continuing.

Rule of Law is worsening as State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is isolating herself without initiating a constructive approach to consolidate the political parties and movements in the country, Daw Than Than Nu, founding member of Democratic Party in Myanmar told the New Normal of Truth Side TV. Talking to Nilantha Ilangamuwa from her home in Yangon, She has recalled the memories of her father and the current situation in Myanmar. The country is once known as the rice of Bawl of Asia.  Daw Than Than Nu is a daughter of the first Prime Minister of Myanmar (Burma) U Nu.  Prime Minister U Nu has ruled Myanmar twice but he was ousted in a military coup by one of his most trusted men in 1962. Then, Than Nu left the country with her father and briefly lived in Thailand before settling down in India. She worked as a translator-announcer at the New Delhi office of All India Radio for two decades and was heavily involved in providing assistance to Burmese refugees in India in the years following the 1988 student uprising. Daw Than Than Nu returned to Myanmar in 2003 and contested the 2010 general elections.

We are not planning to annex any part of Palestinian territory but we are planning to claim our sovereignty,” Director of Foreign Affairs at Israel's Likud Party, Mr Eli Vered Hazan told The New Normal of Truth Side TV. Joining by Nilantha Ilangamuwa from his house in Jerusalem, Mr Hazan, a strong supporter of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to justify every action of the incumbent government which is under fire due to a series of protests in locally and internationally as well as lack of majority in the Knesset. However, Mr Hazan did not hesitate to give us his frank opinions on reports issued by the international community including, The United Nations over Israel and President Donald Trump's favourable policies on Israel.  Mr Eli Vered Hazan is also a lecturer at the S.I.D College and a regular guest and contributor to Israeli and international news channels.‏ He has served as an adviser to the Minister of Education; Parliamentary adviser to the Chairman of the Likud faction and the Coalition; and a publicist for Israel Hayom Newspaper.  Studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Eli has completed a German language course at the University of Vienna, Austria.

Ms Emily Lau nom de guerre Iron Lady of Hong Kong has joined us from her residence to discuss the current situation in Hong Kong after China has promulgated the controversial National security Law for Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a former British colony was handed over to China in 1997. Since then Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the Peoples’ Republic of China. In this interview, Emily Lau talked about the future of Hong Kong under the National Security Lau, and the territory’s first woman Chief Executive Carry Lam.

Emily Lau is a former chairperson of Democratic Party in Hong Kong and she the first woman directly elected to the Legislative Council ( Hong Kong's Parliament) of Hong Kong in 1991. 

Here is the fourth episode of The New Normal of Truth Side TV; Platform for Serious Talks. Our host Nilantha Ilangamuwa sat with the His Excellency Dr Zuhair Mohammad Hamdallah Zaid, Ambassador of State of Palestine to Sri Lanka to discuss the cordial diplomatic relationship between Sri Lanka and Palestine, as well as the impacts of prevailing crisis between Israel and Palestine.    Born in Ramallah and joined the Foreign Service of Palestine in 2000, Dr Zuhair has earned his PhD in Political Science from Jamia Millia Islamia in India. In 2014 he was appointed as the Ambassador of State of Palestine to Sri Lanka.

Our guest for Episode 03 of The New Normal is the Managing Director, Chelina Capital Corporation in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Mr Lolitha Abeysinghe. He is the driving force behind the Opportunity Sri Lanka, an initiative for attracting foreign investors and former commissioner of Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka. In this interview, he described the economic situation in the country and the consequences of the lack of steady economic policies.

This is the second episode of the New Normal: Platform for Serious Talks. Cuban-Sri Lanka relationship is a historic one. It has mutually benefited for both nations in the last few decades. Sri Lanka is one of the first Asian countries to establish bilateral relations with Cuba. Our guest today is Juana Elena Ramos Rodriguez, Cuban Ambassador designated to Sri Lanka and Maldives. She sat with us at her residence in Colombo to talk about the bilateral relationship between Sri Lanka and Cuba, the Cuban public health system and challenges in post-COVID-19 society. Let’s listen to her;

This is our first episode of the NEW NORMAL: PLATFORM FOR SERIOUS TALKS. In this episode, DOUG WEAD was interviewed by NILANTHA ILANGAMUWA. Doug Wead is a well-known presidential Historian in the United States and an adviser to two US Presidents. He is the author of more than thirty books and a co-author of a book with George H. W. Bush. His books are known for their primary sources. His most recent book is Inside Trump's White House: the real story of his presidency. While appreciating Doug’s book on him, President Trump wrote that “Great writer and historian, Doug Wead, has written a true ( Not Fake News) account of what is going on in Washington and the White House”.