Stressing that US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is going to be staunchly transactional, instead of values-based, American scholar Michael Kugelman on Wednesday said the new administration in Washington will view its relationship with Bangladesh through commercial and geopolitical perspectives.
“At least initially, we can assume the administration, when it focuses on Bangladesh, will apply two lenses - commercial and geopolitical,” said Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, adding that trade would remain on the table as part of bilateral ties which have remained fairly constant, and that will likely continue.
Kugelman, America’s leading South Asia specialist, made the remarks while delivering his keynote address at a seminar on “Bangladesh-US Relations: Prognosis for the Future” at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
Cosmos Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Cosmos Group, hosted the event as part of its “Distinguished Lecture Series,” where the keynote speaker shared his own views in three parts - where they came from with US-BD relations, where they are now, and where they might be going.
He ended by laying out what he feels to be the most unrealistic and the most realistic pathways for partnership with the second Trump administration.
Welcome remarks at the event were delivered by Cosmos Foundation Chairman Enayetullah Khan, while the session was moderated by renowned scholar-diplomat Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, former Adviser on Foreign Affairs to Bangladesh Caretaker Government.
President of the Bay of Bengal Institute and Adviser Emeritus of Cosmos Foundation, former Ambassador Tariq Ahmad Karim, President of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute former Ambassador Humayun Kabir, and International Relations Prof at Jahangirnagar University Shahab Enam Khan, among others, spoke on the occasion as discussants.
Sharing some words about the silver linings in place right now, Kugelman said Bangladesh is not going to be on Trump’s radar, but maybe that is a good thing for now, as the country may be well served by staying off it.