The economic turbulence that Bangladesh is currently going through has caused a rapid increase in food and energy prices. This has affected low and middle-income families who spend a large share of their income on food. With huge uncertainties, how will Bangladesh cope with the global supply-side shocks? Over the last few years Bangladesh has...Read More

Several Southeast Asian leaders were feted by Russian President Vladimir Putin at last week’s Belt and Road Forum in Beijing as part of his pivot to Asia, elevating the importance of the region’s political centrality and economic vitality to Russia’s Indo-Pacific strategy. This was Putin’s second official foreign trip since the International Criminal Court issued an...Read More

The European Union’s call to investigate Beijing’s use of state subsidies in the production of Chinese electric vehicles, along with the possibility of tariffs on EV exports to Europe, comes as Chinese carmakers diversify their manufacturing of EVs into Southeast Asia. Chief among Chinese EV makers’ prospective hubs is Thailand. The country has by far the largest automobile...Read More

What the USA has labelled the Indo-Pacific (I-P) has become a central arena in the USA’s conflict with China. A conflict that has rapidly developed over the last 5 years from a trade dispute to a broad and increasingly ideologically based attempt to counter and constrain China at all levels. This is seen by the...Read More

The recent meeting of the BRICS in South Africa, or to give its full title – The BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Universal Security, and Innovative Growth – witnessed its substantial enlargement, from the initial five countries of Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa to 12 countries. The enlarged BRICS now includes the UAE,...Read More

Bangladesh, a country of 165 million people has an annual road traffic accident fatality rate per capita that is twice as high compared with high-income countries and five times that of the best-performing countries globally. Incidents rise sharply during Eid holidays, so what can the government do about road safety? Road traffic accidents (RTA) that...Read More

There is little doubt that on October 7th, 2022, by intensifying and widening its export controls the US engaged in a “hot war” against China by attempting to destroy that country’s  capacity to develop further its semiconductor industry. The US has effectively unleashed a campaign of industrial sabotage against China across this crucial industrial sector....Read More

The contemporary geopolitical world is unipolar, with the US (aided by its Western allies) attempting to impose a specific ideological polity on the rest of the world. The analysis developed in this paper is that such an absolutist political approach is dangerous to the peaceful stability of the world order and fails to appreciate the...Read More

25 February 2023 marked the fourteenth anniversary of the mutiny carried out by the erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles (BDR). Despite multiple investigations, questions surrounding the motives of the mutineers, why they took such extreme actions, and if there was a conspiracy behind the carnage, all remain unanswered. Popularly referred to as the BDR Mutiny, on the...Read More

Post-independence, Bangladesh has quickly transformed itself into a manufacturing powerhouse in readymade garments (RMG), the country’s highest export income earner. Despite the impressive economic growth, devastating fires and building collapses have become all too common in Bangladesh. Is the RMG sector at a crossroads? What strategies can the country adopt for long-term RMG sustainability? RMG...Read More