Strategically Speaking "And now the US Senate"

              Brig Gen Shahedul Anam khan ndc, psc (Retd)

We have not yet had any response from the government on the recent hearing of the US Senate regarding the state of human rights and the scenario in the labour front, the RMG in particular, in Bangladesh.
The hearing dwelt on the state of human rights in general, singling out the Rapid Action Battalion for its criticism, blaming the elite force for the extrajudicial killings in the country. It cannot be a pleasing testimony for any government that considers itself the flag bearer of democracy, rule of law and human rights, particularly coming in the wake of HRW report that had delivered a scathing commentary on, again, the elite force, among other HR issues in the country. And now the US Senate hearing on Bangladesh labour and HR scenario, does likewise.
We can question the credentials of the US government to conduct hearings on human rights on any country, or for that matter, the moral authority to publish a yearly report card on the state of human rights all over the world when its own record of human rights in its own country or for that matter in those that it is in occupation, sometimes under the umbrella of coerced UN sanctions, makes a sorry and ignominious reading. One could also question many aspects of the testimony of the Director of the HRW, those being mere subjective opinion rather than factual, but can we question the main point at issue of the deliberation where senior US government functionaries delivered their views on the state of human rights in this country.
It is a good sign that the government did not dismiss the proceedings of the hearing out of hand as it has been wont to do, where some of such reports have been summarily rubbished as figments of some fertile mind's imagination. We hope that the government would seriously address the issues brought up at the Senate hearing, both the scenario in the RMG sector and the alleged violation of human rights by RAB.
The RMG sector merited the attention of the US Congress particularly for two reasons, firstly, because of the "failing of the government to enforce its own labor laws and its commitments as a member of the International Labor Organization," and secondly, because of the unresolved mystery of the death of Aminul Islam, head of the US based Bangladesh Center for Workers' Solidarity (BCWS) linked to the US body advancing labour rights in Bangladesh.
Aminul's body was found in a ditch on April 5, 2012, after being picked up, allegedly, by a law enforcing agency a day before from Ashulia. Reportedly, the labour rights advocate was detained previously by the NSI on June 16, 2010. According to Aminul, he was threatened with death and subjected to severe and repeated beatings to give false testimony against his colleagues at BCWS.
These are issue that have serious ramification for our RMG industry. The industry has grown in size despite the less-than-stable political situation in the country, and in spite of the many hurdles that it has had to face, particularly shortage of power. And it has the potential to double the export in the next several years has been forecast by international market research groups. The country can hardly bear any reduction in the demand for our apparel particularly in the US and Europe, something that might just happen as hinted to by the US Ambassador in Bangladesh, if the situation was not addressed.
The mystery of Aminul's death must also be resolved quickly. Regrettably, what one found rather disturbing is the attempt to paint him as an NGO activist rather than a labour leader, as we saw being done recently, as if to suggest that an NGO activist is a fair game for a killer? It does not diminish the importance of the issue whether the murdered person was a labour leader or an NGO activist, nor detract from it the gravity of the fact that a human life has been cut short.
Why should the HR situation come to such a pass that the international bodies are compelled to suggest that Bangladesh be put under watch of the UN? And can any government tolerate its elite force being called a "Death Squad?" The HRW has done so several times in its official documents. As for the RAB and the alleged extra-judicial killings, we did not find any protest from the BNP to the HRW statement in the hearing that, “BNP officials told Human Rights Watch that extrajudicial killings were part of its mandate from the outset because, they argued, corruption in the police and courts meant that powerful criminals could avoid arrest or buy their way out of prison.” The BNP has a lot to answer for if that is true.
Instead of going in a denial mode the government should investigate all the allegations of rights violation by government agencies, and wherever necessary take the errant persons to task. And, if it believes really in what it has publicly preached, that it is committed to "zero tolerance" for human rights violations, it must act sincerely to stop it.

The writer is Editor, Op-Ed and Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.

Source:  The Daily Star, 26 July 2012

Pleasure Is All Mine "US limbering up to Bangladesh"

Shah Husain Imam

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena mixes counseling with diplomacy while speaking at any important public forum in Dhaka. His words are usually a blend of advice and compliments, the latter pointing to possibilities on the horizon for Bangladesh.
Ambassador Mozena conveyed US buyers' concern over labour unrest in garments sector, safety at workplace and freedom of association in Bangladesh at his Meet the Press interaction in the capital recently. The issues no doubt need utmost attention at our end; however, the business community is somehow left with an impression maybe the US is insistent on such issues because it is still not prepared to meet some of Bangladesh's well-known demands. Does his government think the time is not right for such concessions to be accorded to Bangladesh, or is it subliminally looking for a quid pro quo?
Having said that, Mozena has been consistently upbeat in his remarks about Bangladesh in three important respects. First, he recognises the potential of Bangladesh as the seventh largest populous (Muslim majority) country in the world; second, he sees the country emerging as the next "Tiger in Asia" provided it keeps politically stable; and last but not least, the US values Bangladesh for its geo-political importance. Bangladesh is the bridgehead between South and Southeast Asia and a littoral state of Indian Ocean with two seaports of high potential.
The geo-political characterisation of Bangladesh is a sea change from how I remember a USAID chief in early 90's telling me in an interview that Bangladesh was being treated on humanitarian grounds only. This somehow found resonance with Henry Kissinger's labelling of Bangladesh as a basket case in the early 70's. Indeed, we have moved a long way ahead since.
That the US is attaching increasing importance to her relationship with Bangladesh has been illustrated by a flurry of visits by US dignitaries to Dhaka in the recent months. They included US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy R. Sherman and Assistant Secretary of Political-Military Affairs Andrew J. Shapiro. The series of inter-state contacts climaxed with the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signing up to Bangladesh-US partnership dialogue framework. The maiden annual meeting under the framework is likely to be held in September.
All this was followed by the visit of the highest US defence official, Secretary of Navy Ray Mabus between July 13 and 15. Cooperation between the navies of the two countries was mooted at length.
The US establishment may be buying into some of the latest research material making out a case for the United States to foster closer relations with smaller countries in South Asia. This is not to make a short shrift of an organic rethink in the State Department and Pentagon as part of the USA's "pivoting to Asia" winding down its commitments to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Nilanthi Samaranayake, Strategic Studies Analyst at CNA in Alexandria VA, writing for Asia-Pacific Bulletin (Sept 22, 2011), East-West Center underscored: "The prospects for advancing US security ties with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal deserve serious examination."
The reasons for such a shift of emphasis can be ticked off in the following order: While relations with India "may not progress as quickly as desired" and those with Pakistan and Afghanistan are "in tatters," the USA needs to forge deeper strategic relationship with the "marginal states." Such states," according to Doug Lieb in the Harvard International Review, "are often overlooked in a structural realist world view that privileges the study of large countries."
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives being maritime countries exude significant potential for securing Indian Ocean sea lanes in the eyes of China and USA, of course with implications for India.
The Maldives is exposed to Somali pirates and Lashkar-e-Taiba seeking harbour on any of its 26 atolls. It could benefit from US counter-terrorism assistance to protect its tourism industry. Sri Lanka's economic and diplomatic ties with China growing, "the United States must try not to alienate Sri Lanka (human rights concerns regardless) given its strategic location in the Indian Ocean," adds Nilanthi Samaranayake suggesting a possible directional change in US geo-strategic thinking.
Myanmar and Bangladesh have the potential gas reserve to substantially meet the energy requirements of Asia -- particularly China and India. With Myanmar opening up, aside from the traditional Chinese presence, India and United States are going forward in forging closer ties with Yangon.
China, Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to build Kunming highway linking Chittagong with Kunming through Myanmar, though a rail link is off the table.
In all, this remains something of a vision statement which even a chink in any pair of bilateral relationships (Myanmar in relation to Rohingya) could queer the pitch for at least a part of a comprehensive inter-regional infrastructure networking.
Bangladesh stands out for its moderate secular values and success in fending off political use of religion. But it has vulnerabilities to non-traditional security threats such as cyclones and earthquakes requiring weather forecasting technologies and assistance in disaster relief and climate change issues. The US wishes to come in on these concerns.
Holistically, Bangladesh is ideally placed to maintain balanced and efficacious relationships with India, China and USA. Only if we can manage our own house efficiently and sagaciously would we be in a position to reap demographic dividends of a large, yet controlled population bridging some of the gaps with all the three giants.

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.   E-mail: husain.imam@thedailystar.net

Source:  The Daily Star, 20 July 2012

Bangladesh: New cynosure of the US

                                   Sifat Uddin

In 1971, when Bangladesh achieved its independence, the then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger dubbed Bangladesh 'basket case.' But only after four decades the current US secretary of state is considering Bangladesh its 'strategic partner.' Small actors of global politics are enjoying greater attention in post cold war international system. Fareed Zakaria presumed rightly in his book 'The Post American World' about the 'rise of the rest.' The US is truly feeling the hit of new emerging nations like Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has become a 'new' cynosure of the US in South Asia. This has to be defined as 'new' because of rapid changing approaches that are taking place in the strategic landscape of South Asia. These approaches include- significant changes that have come to pass in the US global strategy particularly shifting focus from Middle East to the Asia Pacific along with the issues of Myanmar and Pakistan. A 'new Myanmar' is igniting the new possibilities of democratic renaissance and revisiting its existing relationships with global powers e.g. the US and China. Pak-US relations are in a state of see-saw. And this is almost a daunting task for the US to maintain a steady bonhomie relationship with Pakistan taking into accounts it's never decreasing home grown terrorists and anti American sentiments existing among Pakistanis. So the recent strategic partnership between Bangladesh and the US cannot merely be viewed from narrow perspective of the US's strategic interest in the region but beyond.
On April 19, this year Bangladesh and the US for the first time exchanged their views in the areas of counter-terrorism, disaster management, maritime security and UN peacekeeping operations. The US delegation was led by Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew J. Shapiro while Bangladesh delegation was led by the additional foreign secretary. On May 5, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni and the US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed a Joint Declaration on "Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue," Partnership dialogue is based on a long-term shared vision, based on convergence of strategic interests, mutual trust, confidence in each other and respect for each other's strategic sensitivities.
Why the US is so much enthusiastic about Bangladesh? Bangladesh was never a trivial matter to the US since its independence. The importance has been sustaining because of several relevant matters- the geo-strategic location of Bangladesh, a constant point, and Bangladesh, a role model for many Muslim countries as a moderate-Muslim-democratic country. But the global scenario has changed those traditional variables of Bangladesh. Now Bangladesh is one of the best 'Muslim friends' for the US among a few ones. Arab spring has weakened the strongholds of the US in Arab world. It had a disaster in Iraq and in a conundrum in Afghanistan. The US desperately needs to uplift its image among the Muslim nations. It is looking for strengthening relationship with the Muslim world. Now there is an inter-governmental forum to exchange views between the US in one side and the Muslim world on the other. In the last meeting of the 'US-Islamic World Forum' which was held in Doha, Bangladesh's Premier Sheikh Hasina was an important speaker. As a part of strengthening relationship with Muslim majority countries the US wants to see Bangladesh a friendly one who will speak out against terrorism, fundamentalism and for democracy.
Changes in Myanmar is the another important issue which have brought Bangladesh in the American good book. Energy rich Myanmar is important for both the US and India. The decision to return to democracy by the autocratic rulers of Myanmar has impressed Obama administration. To ensure a stable transition towards democracy it is important that Myanmar is getting steady support from its neighboring countries like India and Bangladesh. The US would like to see both India and Bangladesh are assisting Myanmar to make its way through. As a gesture of friendship Bangladesh's PM also paid her visit to Myanmar just a few days later Mrs. Hillary Clinton had had it. During that visit it was reported that the agreements were signed on the following areas: banking, road, air and shipping, cooperation in fisheries, cooperation in agriculture and cooperation in gas and hydro-power.
The US is also considering Bangladesh as a potential destination for selling outmoded arms and instruments. In a recent bid to modernise the tactical transport aircraft fleet of the Air Force, Bangladesh has decided to purchase four Lockheed MC-130Es from the United States at an estimated cost of $180 million. In the official documents of this contract the US government said that the proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by enabling the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) to respond more capably to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief needs and support operations to counter violent extremist organizations.
In the concluding remarks I want to say that the strategic interest of the US in Bangladesh is multifaceted. It shouldn't be limited within the typical framework of 'China-fear.' Especially it is difficult to say about Bangladesh that it will join India-US axis against China in a game of balance of power in Asia. Sino-Bangla relationship has a deep rooted base. There are significant economic, military and cultural level relationship between Bangladesh and China. Anti-US and Anti-India sentiment prevails overwhelmingly in public perception in Bangladesh. So the strategic partnership requires many basic works to be done to achieve success. Success in public diplomacy is one of the basic components in this endeavor. From Bangladesh point of view there are opportunities while at the same time there are adversaries. The leverage it has must be utilized properly. There nothing to be lured but maximization of national interests.

The writer is Editor, Foreign Affairs Insights & Reviews.

Source:  The Daily Star, 16 June 2012

 

Bangladesh-US relations: Opportunities and challenges

                      MD. Shariful Islam

Through the visit of Hilary Rodham Clinton, the US secretary of state and particularly through the signing of 'Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue Agreement' many argue that it is a new beginning of Bangladesh-US relations as there has been no formal framework of relationship previously. Well, but it has raised several questions to my mind that, are we going to be benefitted from this agreement? If we are, then what are the opportunities as well as challenges in this regard? Why the US, the lone super power, is interested to promote its bilateral relations with Bangladesh? Is the importance of Bangladesh growing in the arena of international politics? Let's see the answers of these questions.
First of all, we have to keep in mind the geo-strategic importance of Bangladesh. Though we are small in terms of territory but in terms of population, Bangladesh is the 7th largest country in the world. We are also the 4th largest Muslim country. Without any doubt, Bangladesh is one of the peaceful countries in the world. Bangladesh's growing contributions on the regional and global stage is recognised. World-renowned experts on cholera traveled to Haiti, Somalia, and other places to help fight deadly outbreaks. Furthermore, Bangladesh is the highest contributor in terms of personnel to the UN Peace Keeping Missions.
We have huge potentials in our large population; we have homogeneity of race, common language, communal harmony, fertile lands, less demanding population and particularly availability of natural gas. And after the ITLOS verdict, the geo-strategic importance of Bangladesh has been significantly increased. Now we see that the US is willing to accelerate its bilateral relations with Bangladesh which can be understood from successive visits of high ranking US officials in the recent time. In February, 2012, two senior officials of the US State Department, Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human rights Maria Otero and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake visited Bangladesh. On April 5, 2012, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, visited Dhaka to discuss bilateral issues with top government officials, opposition leaders and civil society members. The two-day official tour of Wendy Sherman, third in position in the State Department, was considered crucial. And through the visit of Hilary Clinton, the relationship got a new impetus.
Secondly, the geo-strategic position of Bangladesh. We have to keep in mind that, 21st century is often hailed as the Asian century because of the rise of China and India. And many often argue that there is a tremendous shift in global geopolitics from Middle East to Asia Pacific region and particularly South Asia. I think the US wants to show the international community that the US is willing to build a better relationship with the Muslim world and does not hate Muslims. So, the United States has long-standing supportive relations with Bangladesh and views Bangladesh as a moderate voice in the Islamic world.
Thirdly, Hilary Clinton provided some assurance in the meeting about looking into providing duty free access to Bangladesh garment exports. If we get this duty free access then our foreign exchange reserves will increase tremendously as in the last year Bangladesh reportedly paid $ 652 million in duties to the US treasury on exports of $ 4.27 billion (Syed Saad Andaleeb, “Hilary Clinton's visit: NRB musings,” The Daily Star, May 10, 2012)
Furthermore, Bangladesh got a framework for discussing numerous issues in yearly basis. So, it is positive for Bangladesh. If I quote from Hilary then it will be more pertinent: "So there is a great, deep, rich, comprehensive agenda between the two countries, and that is why we have decided to create a US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue … This new agreement should leave no doubt how much the United States values the partnership between our two countries."
Against this backdrop, I see there are a number of opportunities as well as challenges ahead. First of all, we know very well how efficient we are in diplomacy. So, we must enhance our diplomatic and negotiating skills as, working with USA on a yearly basis without efficiency is quite difficult. On discussion table, we could raise the issue of duty free access of our garments in US market, the issue of Millennium Challenge Fund that will be beneficial to our country and most importantly the long pending water sharing disputes with India. So, there are a number of opportunities as well as challenges.
Bangladesh has to balance its priorities within a competing environment between USA, China and, India so that it's national interests are uphold. And most importantly, to promote our national interest and, to get benefit from any agreement with any country, as a nation we have to be united as 'united we stand, divided we fall'.

The writer is a Post Graduate Student, Dept. of International Relations, University of Dhaka.

The Daily Star, 02 June 2012