Making Sense of Bangladesh’s Political Transition

May 24, 2025
There was no template for Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus when he accepted the responsibility of leading Bangladesh’s interim government following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s August 5 abdication in the face of a mass uprising. The IG’s immediate priority was to restore a sense of order from the chaos left by the collapse of Hasina’s autocratic regime. There was also the looming threat of an economic collapse as the extent of the previous regime’s looting and mismanagement became clear. Beyond this, the IG’s raison d’etre was to create conditions for the country’s first free and fair elections since 2008. To

Washington’s Deck with Mushfique

May 30, 2025

A Nation Rises: Reflecting on the Student-Led Uprising That Toppled Bangladesh’s Autocracy

From the outset, Hasina’s political adversaries took to the streets but were consistently suppressed by the regime’s security forces. She managed to complete two additional terms through deeply flawed elections. Although opposition parties failed to unseat her in 15 years, Hasina's regime ultimately collapsed under the pressure of the July uprising, despite her just starting a fresh term.