This analysis is accurate, but as someone whose family left the country under General Ershad, I think it misses the forest for the trees. Sheikh Hasina's government, while repressive, is also extremely popular. Her tack to neoliberalism has been enormously successful for the country, and most Bangladeshis do not want to change course. Her approval rating in multiple polls is 70-80%: https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/322206/why-sheikh.... She has the popular mandate.
But in a country with the kind of history Bangladesh has had, minority movements can destabilize the government and overrule the will of the majority. It's hard to have free-wheeling political discourse in a country where people don't have a long history of democracy and aren't above using bombs and assassinations in the political process. (Last time I left the country, I did so under armed guard during a hartal.) Every fledgling democracy in Asia has gone through an authoritarian stage while the country developed and solidified its institutions. Good take from Charlie Munger on this: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8YND31g/. I don't think it's even limited to Asia. The U.S. Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798.
The most important thing, I think, is that America should leave Bangladesh the fuck alone, which it has not been doing: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/03/washington-bangladesh-d.... The United States clearly has no idea how to build democracy in the developing world. I'm scared to see this article in the New York Times, and what it might mean for what the neocons have in store for the country.
But in a country with the kind of history Bangladesh has had, minority movements can destabilize the government and overrule the will of the majority. It's hard to have free-wheeling political discourse in a country where people don't have a long history of democracy and aren't above using bombs and assassinations in the political process. (Last time I left the country, I did so under armed guard during a hartal.) Every fledgling democracy in Asia has gone through an authoritarian stage while the country developed and solidified its institutions. Good take from Charlie Munger on this: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8YND31g/. I don't think it's even limited to Asia. The U.S. Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798.
The most important thing, I think, is that America should leave Bangladesh the fuck alone, which it has not been doing: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/03/washington-bangladesh-d.... The United States clearly has no idea how to build democracy in the developing world. I'm scared to see this article in the New York Times, and what it might mean for what the neocons have in store for the country.