
Currently the country is witnessing a growing debate on the role of external aid in the development of Bangladesh. Development economists and aid watchers contend that external aid received by Bangladesh since independence exceeding $29 billion. This has had no visible impact on the economic and social development of the country and that benefits of this aid did not reach the poor constituting the vast majority of the population of Bangladesh.
Reforming political and governance institutions is not a common issue during election time. The last time this issue dominated an election campaign in a first world country was in the early eighties with Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain and Ronald Reagan in the United States. Thirty-six years after its birth, a Bangladesh caretaker government is facing the same issue. They are addressing it directly by instituting some useful reforms.
Perspectives and Analysis presents the thought of prominent thinkers about political issues pertaining to Bangladesh about which there is need for serious contemplation and action. It contains ideas about the country’s political culture, challenges and democratization, approaches to institution building, issues of leadership and legitimacy, and the continuing saga of conflict between the two main political rivals and possible solutions.
Bangladesh-India bilateral relations is perhaps amongst the most important and sensitive elements in the foreign policy of both the countries. It has been influenced by common history, traditions, cultural affinity, as it is the closest neighbour of Bangladesh sharing a border of more than 4000kms, and most importantly, for India's role in Bangladesh's War of Liberation in 1971. The relations between the neighbours have seen many a ups and downs.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the economy of Bangladesh has surprised even the most astute observers and development agencies at home and abroad. In recent years, the economy has been resilient and impressive. In a pioneering book in the early 1970's Faaland and Parkinson called Bangladesh, A Test Case for Development. Their point was that if Bangladesh could succeed, there was hope for other poor and less developed nations in the world.
The book is the outcome of a seminar that looked at the nature of challenges and the policy options facing Bangladesh in achieving accelerated, sustained and equitable economic growth. Since the early 1990s, Bangladesh has notably improved its economic growth performance following the introduction of market-oriented liberalising economic reforms. The positive impact of economic growth on poverty was, however, compromised to some extent by a worsening of income distribution.
Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) are an integral aspect of society in Bangladesh. They provide a variety of services to people, generate employment, mobilize public opinion, and influence governmental policy. They remain as an important liaison with the donor community and are a substantial cultural, political and economic presence in the country. NGOs are involved in many important sectors of the economy such as education, health, and finance.
Governance in theory and practice has been the subject of intense discussion and indepth study both in the developed and developing countries for quite sometime. Though improvement in the quality of governance has been slow in coming, there is now a fair degree of agreement over the major issues involved and the reform measures called for. This anthology reflects these issues from the South Asian perspectives based on the experiences of the past and the imperatives of the present.