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It is important to put 3rd world systems into this sort of sympathetic context. Sheikh Hasina had every living member of her family slaughtered by the erstwhil
by screye 3y ago
It is important to put 3rd world systems into this sort of sympathetic context.
Sheikh Hasina had every living member of her family slaughtered by the erstwhile miltary. This part of the world necessitates constant paranoia.
In many ways, Bangladesh's quasi democracy state is a major achievement when compared to Bangladesh and the Neighborhood's past.
Biden's activist-interventionist tendencies have led to pressure on 3rd world democracies to emulate western democracies. This has been especially evident with Bangladesh.
I hope (naively) that the west will one day look at its track record on disrupting stable govts, and stop adding friction where it serves no geopolitical benefits. It's about 50 years too late for such kissinger-esque adventurism.
- rayiner 3y agoI agree with the general sentiment, though not for sympathetic reasons. Bangladeshis are not culturally capable of western democracy. Maybe someday, but certainly not now. But they are who they are, and Hasina’s strongman regime is probably the best that can be done at this time. So I agree that Biden’s interventionism about human rights and democracy threatens to disrupt a quasi-democracy that is at least functioning and make things worse.
- alephnerd 3y ago> Biden’s interventionism about human rights and democracy In whitepapers I've read, American opposition to Sheikh Hasina isn't about Human Rights and Democracy. It's about how Hasina is viewed as being too close to China, especially in the aftermath of the Padma Bridge fiasco, BRI, and the String of Pearls initiative. India is fine operating with Hasina because of mutual history and fear of the JeI, but the US is less interested in compromising with her due to the China factor.
- Log_out_ 3y agoKissinger had no principles beyond "America biggest bully forever"... He was in particular anti democratic, as soon as this swept somebody into power who was not lined up with that "philosophy". I could say more but he is dead now, like Laos, like Chile, like everything that ghul touched. His meddling still dies damage though. Ukraine, a democracy, has so little active support worldwide, because Kissinger torched the ground and bullies have no allies in weak moments.