National Security of Bangladesh; Us-Bangladesh Relationship

National Security of Bangladesh: US-Bangladesh Relationship

Security is amongst the prime concerns of any nation state. The problem is complicated for states which have the least national capabilities especially the newly independent ones. In case of Bangladesh, poverty, malnutrition, increasing unemployment and underemployment, rising external debt and dependence on outside help were the issues that threatened its security. Md. Nuruzzaman raised valid questions when he asks what security means for Bangladesh. … What are the sources of her insecurity and how menacing they are? To what extent do the prevailing sources of threats undermine her security? What strategies, both in internal and external contexts, should Bangladesh follow to preserve and strengthen her national security?

Walter Lippmann commenting upon the issue of security had said:

A nation is secure to the extent to which it is not in danger of having to sacrifice core values, if it wishes to avoid was and is able, if challenged, to maintain them by such victory in such a war.

According to Arnold wolfers, Lippmann’s definition “security rises and falls with the ability of a nation to deter an attack or to defeat it”.

A state’s security is heavily dependent upon its geo-political environment. Geo-political setting may either help augment national capabilities or increases the vulnerability of a state vis-à-vis its adversaries.

However, it was in the interest of the US to have close defense relationship with Bangladesh as ot apprehended that Bangladesh could give Chittagong Hill Tract (CTG) to the USSR to establish the latter’s military base.

Moreover, Bangladesh could not have survived without the US economic aid. But the US desire to have close relationship was also viewed with suspicion, amply illustrated by the rumors that the US was seeking a base in Chittagong on St. Martin Island. The rumours were so strong that the US had to clarify that it had no such interest. A...