BANGLADESH – BOTH ACTOR AND STAGE WITHIN THE SECOND COLD WAR – AN ANALYSIS ACCORDING TO KENNETH WALTZ’S STRUCTURAL LEVELS OF ANALYSIS –
BANGLADESH – BOTH ACTOR AND STAGE WITHIN THE SECOND COLD WAR – AN ANALYSIS ACCORDING TO KENNETH WALTZ’S STRUCTURAL LEVELS OF ANALYSIS –

Author(s): Silviu-Valentin PETRE
Subject(s): History, Military history, Political history
Published by: Carol I National Defence University Publishing House
Keywords: Bangladesh; Sheikh Hasina; Cold War; Kenneth Waltz; levels of analysis.
Summary/Abstract: The rapid departure of former Bangladeshi prime-minister Sheikh Hasina after fifteen years of iron grip power amidst massive popular uprising remains a work in progress. Seen from the lenses of domestic politics, the disruptive event relates to the personalist-dynastic politics so much entrenched in Bangladeshi public culture. Seen from the bureaucratic point of view, Bangladesh remains a country with deep postpartum scars after the break-up from Pakistan. Seen from the wider perspective of international politics, Bangladesh’s road to development was probably victim to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a to-good-to-be true bonanza which did not generate win-win gains for all the members but made them heavily indebted to Beijing’s macro economical ambitions and schemes.In order to explain the structural causes that lead to Sheikh Hasina’s departure in the summer of 2024, this article shall use a three-layered analysis as conceived by Kenneth Waltz taxonomy in his 1954/1959 book “Man, State and War”. Thus, we shall focus our attention to the political leadership, the particularities of Bangladeshi state and commanding institutions and also on the manner in which international system exerts pressure upon Bangladeshi domestic scene.

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