Jagdish Bhagwati examines the current feud in Bangladesh between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Mohammed Yunus, the founder of the microloan-making Grameen Bank, and hopes the affair will pave the way to liberal reforms that will transform the Bangladeshi economy.

Plan

With U.S. forces preoccupied in Pakistan, an Al Qaeda affiliate has been gaining power in Bangladesh.

Laurie Garrett discusses the confluence of health crises, including bird flu, climate changes and energy and food costs, in Bangladesh.

Agreement

This report details the proceedings of a symposium to consider the significance of recent political developments in Bangladesh, convened by the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention and the United States Institute of Peace.

In some South and Southeast Asia countries, worrisome signs of a slide toward militarism in a region where democracy had planted some roots.

The Congressional Research Service reports on the rise is Islamic extremism in Bangladesh

Warring political alliances have left Bangladesh in a state of upheaval in advance of January elections. Some U.S. experts worry the political disarray fosters Islamic militancy.

The International Crisis Group has released a paper on Bangladesh's stability in the race of emerging Islamist groups.

This USIP report looks at increasing Islamist violence in Bangladesh. The report argues that recent years have seen a deepening crisis in governance with continued politicization of civil society, deterioration of judicial independence, and diminishing rule of law and respect for human rights. Following a countryside terrorist attack in August 2005 and recent suicide bombings, the government has begun cracking down on selected individuals, and questions persist about the government's dedication to respond decisively to Islamist terrorism, conduct free and fair elections in 2007, and address the deterioration in the rule of law and respect for human rights.