Bangladesh’s Diplomacy Has Failed. A New Doctrine Is Urgently Needed

Reading Time: 3 minutes Over the past two decades, Bangladesh’s foreign policy machinery has decayed into something dangerously ineffective — a meek echo chamber for foreign capitals rather than a confident voice defending national interests. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) increasingly resembles a public relations wing for external powers. This must change — urgently. The latest humiliation came in Washington, where our diplomats failed to secure any breakthrough on restoring trade privileges or softening tariff pressure — a potentially crippling blow to our exports. This is arguably the gravest economic threat since COVID-19 and the collapse of the Awami League regime. And it was entirely avoidable. Bangladesh is not weak. It is a strategically placed, economically vital state in South Asia, with rising defence capabilities and significant geopolitical value in the Indo-Pacific. But our diplomacy does not reflect this. MoFA behaves as though we are a nation still trapped