(Originally published by Foreign Policy on April 20, 2022)

As the brothers helming the government struggle with a spiraling economic crisis, they still have legislators and generals behind them—for now.

Sri Lanka announced last week that it would default on $51 billion of foreign debt, marking the first time in 20 years that a South Asian country has faced such an economic crisis. Sri Lankans now lack fuel for their cars, face regular power cuts, and are preparing for a looming food shortage. Although recent challenges—chief among them the COVID-19 pandemic—have compounded Sri Lanka’s economic plight, the default has been decades in the making.

The announcement follows weeks of nationwide protests against the Rajapaksa family, which has dominated Sri Lankan politics since 2005; its members include both incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

(Continue reading the opinion essay on Foreign Policy’s page here.)