For Sri Lanka, currently rebuilding from our worst economic crisis while navigating political transformation, these lessons offer crucial guidance for avoiding costly mistakes while accelerating beneficial changes. Most significantly, Sri Lanka received universal adult suffrage in 1931, preceding many European democracies and earning recognition as Asia’s oldest democracy. Sri Lanka must therefore strengthen its foreign policy and diplomatic network to share the experiences of other nations, particularly those in the global south. There is no indication that it can succeed in a larger, more ancient and more culturally plural country like Sri Lanka. The third article will examine specifically how Sri Lanka can apply these global lessons to our current challenges.