3.1 The literature on state fragility is highly fragmented and overlapping among three broad streams of social science: development economics, comparative politics and IR. Following the introduction of the phrase by Helman and Ratner14(1993), ‘fragile states’ became an indispensable part of international lexicon particularly after 9/11. Academics and policy makers alike have drawn attention to the complex relationships between state fragility, poverty and terrorism with varied conclusions. Some accept the idea of ‘fragile states’ uncritically and recognize them as the greatest challenge to international security calling for paradigm change in international security (Ignatieff, 2002;
Wolfensohn, 2002; Fukuyama, 2004; Rabasa et al. 2007). Others are sceptical about the concept’s analytical value on epistemological grounds and find it difficult to objectively define, identify and analyse with methodological rigor (Call, 2008, 2010; Newman 2009, Beehner and Young, 2012). And there are some who reject the idea as a politicized, ethnocentric, hegemonic concept with Introduction 05
13 Bernier reported that the rich exuberance, together with the beauty and amiable disposition of the native women, has given rise to a proverb among western asylum seekers that 'the Kingdom of Bengal has a hundred gates open for entrance, but not one for departure'. ibid. p.438.
14 It is claimed that current discourse on fragile states originated from Helman and Ratner’s first use of the term in their Foreign Policy article. (Beehner and Young, 2012)
interventionist connotations15(Chandler, 2005; Boas and Jennings 2007, Pugh et,al. 2011). Adding to the slanted and contradictory literature, Bangladesh has also been ranked differently in various fragility indexes. Domestic socio-economic indicators, governance, poverty,16corruption,17environmental issues etc dominates such image of Bangladesh ignoring the role of GIs and structures. Paradoxically, Bangladesh is also one of the six countries that has shown substantial progress defying conventional prediction and 'reshaping ideas about how to attain human development' (HDR, 2013, p.2). Goldman and Sachs placed Bangladesh in their list of ‘Next 11’ with high potentials to become one of the world's largest economies. Navigating through such contradictory images this paper intends to provide a comprehensive understanding of the effects of external drivers of fragility in the context of Bangladesh to fill the void in existing literatures.
4. Methodology
4.1 It is primarily a desk-based analytical research using both primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources include books, journals, articles and reports of international standard. Publications with questionable reliability (like Wikipedia) have not been used and due consideration on biasness, time and context has been given while using ‘gray literatures’18to ensure relevancy and authenticity. Primary data has been taken from the official websites of ministries/organizations/national parliament, elections commission etc.19To offset my own biasness as a Bangladeshi, I have relied on reading wide range of literature, guidance from my supervisor and remaining critical. The
15 Boas and Jennings (2007) urges the interventionist west to cease its interference in affairs of the global periphery, or at least abandon the pretence of altruism (pp. 475–85) also See Chandler (2006) p.63-65.
16 Poverty rate in Bangladesh is highest in South Asia (58 per cent) measured in terms of Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) (HDR, 2013).
17 Transparency International (TI) ranked Bangladesh at 144th out of 174 countries in 2012 (TI, 2012). It is also amongst the top 10 exporters of illicit capital which is estimated to be US$ 34 billion between 1990-2008 (OECD, 2012a, 2013, p.7. Kar and Freitas, 2011).
18 Refers to the mass of information that falls outside the mainstream published journals.
19 Includes Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Bangladesh Bank, WB, World Trade Organization, Asian Development Bank, TI, different ‘fragile state’ ranking index, USAID, different UN websites including UNDP, UN DESA, OECD, Political Instability Task Force reports, DfID etc.
publications used are primarily in English; however, some materials in Bengali (without any need of interpreter) have also been consulted.
5. Structure
5.1 The primary research question is: ''How do the global security and economic structures affect state fragility in the context of Bangladesh? To address this question, first, Chapter 2reviews the existing literature, situates Bangladesh in different fragile states indexes to reveal the paradoxical nature of the existing measurement architecture of state fragility. Chapter 2 also conceptualizes state fragility and the international structures highlighting that the effects of global structures on both structural and relational aspects of a
‘fragile state’ are inseparable part of measuring state fragility. Chapter 3 explores the effects of international security structure on Bangladesh’s socio-political orientation highlighting its consequence with an emphasis on the post 9/11 scenario. Chapter 4investigates the effects of global economic structure on the state fragility of Bangladesh. Highlighting the structural and relational aspects, it establishes how the global economic structure is linked to the concept of state fragility in the context of Bangladesh. The concluding chapter (Chapter 5) sums up the findings and outlines a way forward. It contends that the current fragility indexes needs to be reformed to capture global political economy, interests and duplicitous role of globalization. As a way forward in addressing state fragility, it suggests scaling back international ambitions, opening up market access, removing trade barriers, establishing independent global risk assessment to determine the pace and time of liberalization, selective and controlled migration, forging partnership for higher education and a complete reversal of current security priorities in fragile environment emphasizing ‘life welfare’. Such a tall order is possible only if the international community gets serious and acts on enlightened self interest.
Introduction 07