Realities and challenges to Bangladesh foreign policy: Global scenario
In Asia, China and India appear to be agents of change in the new world order and their rise will have reverberations across the world.
Russia, China and the European Union appear not to be comfortable with the unipolar world led by the US. The unipolar world appears to be at its peak, replacing the multi-polar world.
Some US writers hold the view that the power of the US has peaked and with the rise of Europe and Asia it becomes clear that America's unipolar moment is not long for this world. There is no zero-sum game in power politics. One rises and the other declines. This is cold reality.
Globally, the key issue is to turn China's entry into strategic environment of Asia Pacific into a positive factor; in other words, creating a platform for the US and China to co-exist peacefully in the new world order.
Global political dynamics and challenges
The global political dynamics is characterized by, among other things, the following issues: (a) Ineffectiveness of the Security Council of the UN because of differences of opinion among big five veto-wielding permanent members such as between Russia and China on the one hand and the US and the West on the other. (b) Growing gravity of threats rooted in non-state actors (c) Iran-US confrontation on nuclear proliferation (d) Israel-Palestinian conflict (e) Iraqi war and its ramifications in the region including Shi'ia and Sunni sectarianism in the Middle East (f) Rise of Islamic militants & absence of agreed definition of terrorism (g) Civil wars in Africa. (h) US containment policy of China through its allies (i) Militarization of Japan (j) Sales of arms to conflict or potential conflict zones by big powers (k) Expanded role of the NATO beyond the confines of Europe (l) Formation of Shanghai Cooperation Council with Central Asian States (m) Growing power of Venezuela-Iran-China axis Besides the above issues globalisation, human rights, gender inequality, infectious diseases, trans-national organized crime and climate change are added to political ones in the current global issues of significance. Some of the challenges for Bangladesh in multi-lateral fora
Bangladesh's role in peacekeeping operation under the umbrella of the UN provides a good standing to Bangladesh in the UN. Bangladesh's strength lies in not taking extreme views on any global or regional issue. It is capable of persuading like-minded countries to see a particular point of view on a given issue and may achieve success in multilateral fora. Given the above positive factors, how can Bangladesh project itself as a moderate and tolerant multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual democratic country? * How can Bangladesh mobilize opinions within the UN to mitigate the devastating effects of disasters due to climate change in future? * How can Bangladesh receive support and assistance to adapt to the effects of global warming including building seawalls to guard against rising seas, under the road map of the recent Bali UN Conference on Climate Change? * How can Bangladesh get duty-free or concessional access to industrialized countries? * How can Bangladesh, a labour-extensive country, encourage industrialized countries to accept temporary mobility of labour from developing countries as part of the globalization? * How can Bangladesh mobilize opinion within the international community to provide protection to the rights of migrant workers including those of undocumented workers in the receiving countries in accordance with the 1990 International Convention on Protection of Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families? * How can Bangladesh prevent organized crime such as trafficking in women and children and drug related crimes? Security Council membership:
Bangladesh may seriously consider itself a nominee from the Asian region as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Kazakhstan and Thailand are the only two candidates that have declared their intention to contest the seat in 2010. Since Lebanon has already announced its candidature, India deferred it to 2010. Pakistan has chosen 2011 its bid. Tradition has it that countries announce their intentions years ahead in advance, making it known to other countries in the region and outside. For example, Bahrain wants to contest in 2029, the United Arab Emirate in 2021 and Yemen in 2017. To be within LDC or not
Bangladesh is a member (out of fifty) of the group of Least Developed Countries. A view suggests whether Bangladesh should come out of it, because except some special treatment in WTO, the concessions that the LDCs receive currently in terms of developmental aid are the same as those that all low-income countries receive. It is argued by many economists that the membership of LDC appears to have given Bangladesh a mentality of dependence on charity and generosity of donors. Some experts question whether a certain amount of complacency has instilled in the mental perception of the nation that avoids vigorous domestic effort to improve economic performance. Is this psychology and dependence syndrome honourable for a nation? In the early 1990s Ghana was found to have met all the criteria for inclusion in the LDCs. But Ghana did not want to be considered a LDC. The UN Committee (Committee for Development Planning) has the freedom to identify a country as LDC but neither the Committee nor ECOSOC of the UN could compel a country to accept such a status. The argument that Bangladesh is not able to come out of the club unless the UN Committee reviews the status is misconceived. Conclusion
The above facts are indicative of some of the realities and challenges to Bangladesh foreign policy of the 21st century. Bangladesh foreign policy, in my view, stands largely on three pillars: security, development and the UN. A foreign policy is successful if it is proactive and result oriented. It must not respond only to situations but plan ahead strategies so that no situation surprises the country within the region or globally. Given Bangladesh's constraints, it must play a role that brings tangible benefits to people of Bangladesh. Kautilya once said that the "welfare of a state depends on an active foreign policy." This maxim holds true at the beginning of the 21st century. The author is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.
The global political dynamics is characterized by, among other things, the following issues: (a) Ineffectiveness of the Security Council of the UN because of differences of opinion among big five veto-wielding permanent members such as between Russia and China on the one hand and the US and the West on the other. (b) Growing gravity of threats rooted in non-state actors (c) Iran-US confrontation on nuclear proliferation (d) Israel-Palestinian conflict (e) Iraqi war and its ramifications in the region including Shi'ia and Sunni sectarianism in the Middle East (f) Rise of Islamic militants & absence of agreed definition of terrorism (g) Civil wars in Africa. (h) US containment policy of China through its allies (i) Militarization of Japan (j) Sales of arms to conflict or potential conflict zones by big powers (k) Expanded role of the NATO beyond the confines of Europe (l) Formation of Shanghai Cooperation Council with Central Asian States (m) Growing power of Venezuela-Iran-China axis Besides the above issues globalisation, human rights, gender inequality, infectious diseases, trans-national organized crime and climate change are added to political ones in the current global issues of significance. Some of the challenges for Bangladesh in multi-lateral fora
Bangladesh's role in peacekeeping operation under the umbrella of the UN provides a good standing to Bangladesh in the UN. Bangladesh's strength lies in not taking extreme views on any global or regional issue. It is capable of persuading like-minded countries to see a particular point of view on a given issue and may achieve success in multilateral fora. Given the above positive factors, how can Bangladesh project itself as a moderate and tolerant multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual democratic country? * How can Bangladesh mobilize opinions within the UN to mitigate the devastating effects of disasters due to climate change in future? * How can Bangladesh receive support and assistance to adapt to the effects of global warming including building seawalls to guard against rising seas, under the road map of the recent Bali UN Conference on Climate Change? * How can Bangladesh get duty-free or concessional access to industrialized countries? * How can Bangladesh, a labour-extensive country, encourage industrialized countries to accept temporary mobility of labour from developing countries as part of the globalization? * How can Bangladesh mobilize opinion within the international community to provide protection to the rights of migrant workers including those of undocumented workers in the receiving countries in accordance with the 1990 International Convention on Protection of Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families? * How can Bangladesh prevent organized crime such as trafficking in women and children and drug related crimes? Security Council membership:
Bangladesh may seriously consider itself a nominee from the Asian region as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Kazakhstan and Thailand are the only two candidates that have declared their intention to contest the seat in 2010. Since Lebanon has already announced its candidature, India deferred it to 2010. Pakistan has chosen 2011 its bid. Tradition has it that countries announce their intentions years ahead in advance, making it known to other countries in the region and outside. For example, Bahrain wants to contest in 2029, the United Arab Emirate in 2021 and Yemen in 2017. To be within LDC or not
Bangladesh is a member (out of fifty) of the group of Least Developed Countries. A view suggests whether Bangladesh should come out of it, because except some special treatment in WTO, the concessions that the LDCs receive currently in terms of developmental aid are the same as those that all low-income countries receive. It is argued by many economists that the membership of LDC appears to have given Bangladesh a mentality of dependence on charity and generosity of donors. Some experts question whether a certain amount of complacency has instilled in the mental perception of the nation that avoids vigorous domestic effort to improve economic performance. Is this psychology and dependence syndrome honourable for a nation? In the early 1990s Ghana was found to have met all the criteria for inclusion in the LDCs. But Ghana did not want to be considered a LDC. The UN Committee (Committee for Development Planning) has the freedom to identify a country as LDC but neither the Committee nor ECOSOC of the UN could compel a country to accept such a status. The argument that Bangladesh is not able to come out of the club unless the UN Committee reviews the status is misconceived. Conclusion
The above facts are indicative of some of the realities and challenges to Bangladesh foreign policy of the 21st century. Bangladesh foreign policy, in my view, stands largely on three pillars: security, development and the UN. A foreign policy is successful if it is proactive and result oriented. It must not respond only to situations but plan ahead strategies so that no situation surprises the country within the region or globally. Given Bangladesh's constraints, it must play a role that brings tangible benefits to people of Bangladesh. Kautilya once said that the "welfare of a state depends on an active foreign policy." This maxim holds true at the beginning of the 21st century. The author is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.
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