William B Milam, a Diplomat and a Scholar

Former US Ambassador to Bangladesh William B Milam, or Bill Milam to many, passed away on February 18. All those who have known Bill well would agree that he was not just an accomplished diplomat, he was also a scholar and political analyst of the highest quality.

That Milam was one of the very few career US Foreign Service officers to have been assigned as the Ambassador to three countries, Bangladesh, Liberia and Pakistan, is a clear testament to and recognition of, his qualities as a top drawer diplomat.

Many are lucky to get even one such assignment. Even after his retirement, he was chosen to be the Head of the US Mission in Libya during the rule of Moammar Gaddafi, a decision that reflected a trust on his ability to meet new challenges for the US foreign policy goals in an uncertain terrain.

Having served as Ambassador in both Bangladesh and Pakistan, his scholarly work on the politics and political personalities in both these countries, their strength and their weaknesses, are most succinctly covered in his analytical book BANGLADESH AND PAKISTAN, Flirting with Failure in South Asia (2009). I had the privilege to have reviewed the book, which was duly published in a local English daily.

With a ringside view on the political evolution in both these countries it would be fair to assume that Ambassador Milam would have had firsthand view to follow developments closely enough to reach the conclusions that he has in his book.

In the context of Bangladeshi political leaders, Bill Milam  has implied that power, or more power, does not always help one to succeed in governing. Milam talks at length, and presents his assessments, of the two personalities whose very names define the political landscape of Bangladesh even long after their violent departure from the scene -- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman.

Milam characterizes Sheikh Mujib’s period of governance as one from ‘Euphoria to Neuralgia.' Mujib is described as the undisputed leader of a new Bangladesh, who was faced with the daunting task of rebuilding a country shattered by the civil war, with a dysfunctional economy and crippled transportation system, severe law and order problems, and a population displaced far and wide.

The author credits the government of the day with framing a liberal, democratic Constitution with an independent judiciary for the new country within a short time. But, as he says in the book, with increasing political and economic pressure, adherence to liberal constitutionalism and judicial independence broke down by the end of 1974.

Writing about  Ziaur Rahman and his governance from 1975 to his untimely death in 1981, he calls this period as “A short lived but fecund era” and he calls Zia’s politics as one of “hope and transition."

“More than stability, he seems to have brought hope back to a beleaguered population and saved Bangladesh from the fate of becoming a failed state." The fact that he shares his views on key political personalities long after their passing from the scene lends credence to his way of looking at things with an objective eye.

Politicians and political leaders present and of the future, of all hue and political observers would be well advised to read, and more importantly study, Ambassador Milam’s book. It is instructive and yet not prescriptive.

Importantly, it is candid. Only a genuine friend would share his thoughts and his words of wisdom in the larger interest of Bangladesh and its people with such clarity. William B Milam was one such friend.

May his Soul Rest in Eternal Piece.

Shamsher M Chowdhury, BB is a former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh and High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and Ambassador to Germany, Vietnam and the United States.