Bangladesh-US relations: Progress and prospects
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
Md Shariful Islam
Since the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) introduced the nation-state system, bilateral relations between states have played a pivotal role in balancing, counter-balancing and particularly, in establishing a stable world order which makes a better, peaceful world.
Bangladesh-USA relations date back to the 1970s when the USA recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign state on 4th April, 1972. Though the USA did not support the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 and President Nixon's White House titled towards Pakistan, the people and the media of the USA supported the cause of the Liberation struggle of the people of Bangladesh.
In early years, both countries were restrained in developing close bilateral relations because of the internal and external environment. The leftists in Bangladesh, for instance, were not comfortable in maintaining close relations with the United States and they tilted towards the communist countries. US assistance began to flow for the rehabilitation of Bangladesh and the first direct assistance from the USA totalled $ 122.2 million over a period of only 4 months in 1972. However, critics see the US involvement in Bangladesh as a part of their imperialistic policy but that is a different issue.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to visit Bangladesh on May 5. This is an occasion to study how important is the Bangladesh-USA bilateral relations, particularly the importance of the USA as the development partner of Bangladesh. Secondly, it is also pertinent to explore the prospects of this relationship.
From economic point of view, as a development partner of Bangladesh, the USA is playing a pivotal role ever since it accorded recognition to Bangladesh since it is the single largest trade partner of the country. In the year 2010, for instance, Bangladesh exported $4.3 billion dollar worth goods which was a 15.5 per cent increase over 2009. The balance of trade is in Bangladesh's favour. The USA is the largest export market for Bangladesh. But the USA imports basically five products from Bangladesh i.e. knitwear, woven garments, home textiles, shrimp and fish, and headgear which account for 98 per cent of its import mix. MA Taslim (2011) observes that, "currently the principal Bangladeshi export goods, except fish and shrimp, pay very high tariffs to enter the US market. If duty-free access could be obtained, the export of other goods, especially garments, could be increased substantially" So, Bangladesh must try to ensure the duty-free access for all goods to USA market and concentrate on to expand the volume and range of products to revamp the bilateral trade relations.
The USA apparently has an urge to strengthen relations with Bangladesh owing to its geo-strategic importance, growing economy, and moderate Muslim majority country's opposition to extremism. In this backdrop, many argue that, with the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent state, the USA did not wish to see Bangladesh falling deep within the sphere of influence of Indo-Soviet alliance. So, the USA recognised Bangladesh on April 4, 1972 to curb this influence and since then it has become the largest development partner of Bangladesh. In this regard, it can be referred that, according to US State Department sources, the US is eager to review US-Bangladesh cooperation across the full range of political, economic, and security matters. Moreover, the US is also eager to go for a "strategic partnership dialogue" with Bangladesh, which would create a regular forum to discuss issues like counterterrorism, economy, global climate change, and energy.
With regard to life-threatening climate change, Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world although it contributes little to global warming. For climate change mitigation and adaptation USA should assist Bangladesh economically, politically in the international fora and through the transfer of green technology.
Unfortunately, Bangladesh is not adept at negotiations and particularly trade negotiations, nor does it take much background preparations for trade meetings. So, before signing any agreement, and particularly the much-talked-about Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) which was previously known as TIFA, Bangladesh should follow the dictum of Thucydides and make a cost-benefit analysis. Thucydides said, "Think it over again, and let this be a point that constantly recurs to your minds - that you are discussing the fate of your country, that you have only one country, and that its future for good and ill depends on this one single decision which you are going to make".
Bangladesh should also ask the USA to increase the range of scholarships and more flexibility for higher studies for the Bangladeshi students and teachers in their world-class universities.
Finally, while the internal dynamics of nation-states are undergoing a fundamental transformation, South Asian states are still highly sensitive about preserving their sovereignty in the external domain for which the functionalist paradigm of cooperation simply does not work in South Asia. As cooperation is the cornerstone/ catalyst for any kind of prosperity and development we must strengthen bilateral relations with the USA but that should be in the interest of the country and not for the benefit of any particular regime or group. As the strength of the bilateral relationship relies on the basis of mutual understanding, respect, reciprocity and trust the United States should also foster this relationship for the mutual benefits of the two countries as President Clinton during his visit to Bangladesh in 2000 said, "Tomorrow the sun will rise on a deeper friendship between America and Bangladesh…I am proud of the kind of partnership we are forging".
The writer is a post-graduate
student in International Relations,
University of Dhaka.
shariful.shuvo.duir@gmail.com
Since the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) introduced the nation-state system, bilateral relations between states have played a pivotal role in balancing, counter-balancing and particularly, in establishing a stable world order which makes a better, peaceful world.
Bangladesh-USA relations date back to the 1970s when the USA recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign state on 4th April, 1972. Though the USA did not support the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 and President Nixon's White House titled towards Pakistan, the people and the media of the USA supported the cause of the Liberation struggle of the people of Bangladesh.
In early years, both countries were restrained in developing close bilateral relations because of the internal and external environment. The leftists in Bangladesh, for instance, were not comfortable in maintaining close relations with the United States and they tilted towards the communist countries. US assistance began to flow for the rehabilitation of Bangladesh and the first direct assistance from the USA totalled $ 122.2 million over a period of only 4 months in 1972. However, critics see the US involvement in Bangladesh as a part of their imperialistic policy but that is a different issue.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to visit Bangladesh on May 5. This is an occasion to study how important is the Bangladesh-USA bilateral relations, particularly the importance of the USA as the development partner of Bangladesh. Secondly, it is also pertinent to explore the prospects of this relationship.
From economic point of view, as a development partner of Bangladesh, the USA is playing a pivotal role ever since it accorded recognition to Bangladesh since it is the single largest trade partner of the country. In the year 2010, for instance, Bangladesh exported $4.3 billion dollar worth goods which was a 15.5 per cent increase over 2009. The balance of trade is in Bangladesh's favour. The USA is the largest export market for Bangladesh. But the USA imports basically five products from Bangladesh i.e. knitwear, woven garments, home textiles, shrimp and fish, and headgear which account for 98 per cent of its import mix. MA Taslim (2011) observes that, "currently the principal Bangladeshi export goods, except fish and shrimp, pay very high tariffs to enter the US market. If duty-free access could be obtained, the export of other goods, especially garments, could be increased substantially" So, Bangladesh must try to ensure the duty-free access for all goods to USA market and concentrate on to expand the volume and range of products to revamp the bilateral trade relations.
The USA apparently has an urge to strengthen relations with Bangladesh owing to its geo-strategic importance, growing economy, and moderate Muslim majority country's opposition to extremism. In this backdrop, many argue that, with the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent state, the USA did not wish to see Bangladesh falling deep within the sphere of influence of Indo-Soviet alliance. So, the USA recognised Bangladesh on April 4, 1972 to curb this influence and since then it has become the largest development partner of Bangladesh. In this regard, it can be referred that, according to US State Department sources, the US is eager to review US-Bangladesh cooperation across the full range of political, economic, and security matters. Moreover, the US is also eager to go for a "strategic partnership dialogue" with Bangladesh, which would create a regular forum to discuss issues like counterterrorism, economy, global climate change, and energy.
With regard to life-threatening climate change, Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world although it contributes little to global warming. For climate change mitigation and adaptation USA should assist Bangladesh economically, politically in the international fora and through the transfer of green technology.
Unfortunately, Bangladesh is not adept at negotiations and particularly trade negotiations, nor does it take much background preparations for trade meetings. So, before signing any agreement, and particularly the much-talked-about Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) which was previously known as TIFA, Bangladesh should follow the dictum of Thucydides and make a cost-benefit analysis. Thucydides said, "Think it over again, and let this be a point that constantly recurs to your minds - that you are discussing the fate of your country, that you have only one country, and that its future for good and ill depends on this one single decision which you are going to make".
Bangladesh should also ask the USA to increase the range of scholarships and more flexibility for higher studies for the Bangladeshi students and teachers in their world-class universities.
Finally, while the internal dynamics of nation-states are undergoing a fundamental transformation, South Asian states are still highly sensitive about preserving their sovereignty in the external domain for which the functionalist paradigm of cooperation simply does not work in South Asia. As cooperation is the cornerstone/ catalyst for any kind of prosperity and development we must strengthen bilateral relations with the USA but that should be in the interest of the country and not for the benefit of any particular regime or group. As the strength of the bilateral relationship relies on the basis of mutual understanding, respect, reciprocity and trust the United States should also foster this relationship for the mutual benefits of the two countries as President Clinton during his visit to Bangladesh in 2000 said, "Tomorrow the sun will rise on a deeper friendship between America and Bangladesh…I am proud of the kind of partnership we are forging".
The writer is a post-graduate
student in International Relations,
University of Dhaka.
shariful.shuvo.duir@gmail.com