Bangladesh Studies

This volume is based on selected papers from two conferences on Bangladesh at Harvard University in 2008 and 2009. It covers a variety of challenging topics, ranging from linkages between democracy and security to effects of a given electoral system on political stability, micro-national autonomy for subregional peace, terrorism and its counter-forces. It also covers the role of NGOs in development and social change, intra-regional cooperation in conflict mitigation and refugee related violence in South Asia.

This book is an effort to deal with various aspects of US-Bangladesh relations. It examines the US attitude towards struggle for liberation of Bangladesh, and the delay caused by the United States in granting recognition on the pretext that Bangladesh was not yet sovereign because of presence of Indian troops in Bangladesh. The first bilateral agreement was signed between the United States and Bangladesh in May 1972 followed by establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The present volume is the outcome of two India-Bangladesh Dialogues of journalists which were held on 7-8 September and 30 November-l December 2004 at the BEI. The initiative was the first of its kind inspired by the belief that young media persons hardly carried the burden of the past history (1947-71) of the subcontinent.

The security infrastructure in Bangladesh is more a product of default rather than design. Adhoc and piecemeal responses of the government come about from time to time, following persistent media outcry and pervasive civil society criticism relating to specific issues or breaches and events. It is, thus, natural to surmise that no comprehensive National Security Policy exists in Bangladesh. Primacy of holistic security in the development process is now widely recognised.