Emerging markets ETFs’ rally has been somewhat of a surprise: They own shares of companies in less-developed nations. For decades, these stocks took a backseat with investors who would rather pay up for shares of giant companies in developed nations like the U.S. But now, many factors are working in emerging markets’ favor.
One of the core reasons behind Bangladesh’s political malaise is blind partisan loyalty. The tendency to select candidates based on party identity, factional allegiance, religion, or gender -- rather than competence -- has repeatedly rendered parliament ineffective. The entire nation has paid the price.
A Bangladesh that wants diplomatic space to grow must first secure strategic space. If it wants autonomy, it must first make coercion unprofitable. That is the hard, unromantic truth of the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be.
Success depends on three commitments that cannot be deferred: Speed. Visible, funded action in year one. Not plans for action. Action. Resources. Specific, budgeted commitments, not proposals
Whatever the causes, Bangladesh cannot wait indefinitely. It must build damage-reducing infrastructure without delay. This does not replace a water-sharing settlement; it reduces damage while politics drags on, and it must be designed with geo-politics in mind.
Society needs a new compact to rein in the empire of corporate giants. This is as true for Bangladesh as it is for the rest of the world. Else we will all descend into the servitude of a new feudal system headed by giant corporations and the handful of their beneficiaries.
The economy is busier, but not necessarily more capable. After presenting eight charts, they tell basically one story. On the economic front, Bangladesh’s achievements are real. But the transformation is still incomplete.
We cannot let the Bangladesh-India relationship and discourse be hijacked by the hard-liners on either side of the border who favour hostility and antagonism over cordiality and cooperation.
The India-Bangladesh relationship is undergoing not rupture, but delayed normalization. Bangladesh is asserting the right to disagree without permission. India is confronting the limits of informal hegemony
On this December 14 we should neither forgive nor forget the atrocities that were committed against the Bangladeshi people, not just on that day in 1971 but throughout the nine months of the Liberation War. Some sins are unforgivable, and December 14, 1971 is one of them.
Ultimately, the effectiveness of any anti-discrimination law will depend not only on its clauses but on the political will to confront uncomfortable truths, reform abusive structures, and build a future in which neither static nor dynamic forms of discrimination can take root. Only then can Bangladesh move toward a truly just and rights-respecting society.
To understand Bangladesh 2025, it’s helpful to know what happened in Bengal in 1905, where it all began. We need to know who we are and where we came from if we hope to chart a path to a better future.
Bangladesh's goal should be to make our own decisions while skillfully using multiple major powers to serve our national interests. This approach is called intelligent dependence -- we remain dependent in some ways, but we control how that dependence works.
Without proper planning, scientific implementation, public engagement, and addressing the root causes of deforestation, the pledge to plant 250 million trees will not succeed
