Zillur Rahman

Zillur Rahman is the executive director of the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) and a television talk show host. His Twitter handle is @zillur

Trump, trade wars, tariffs, and a new world order

The US president's overarching policies regarding trade and foreign affairs has not altered since his first term.

2m ago

Is the pendulum swinging too fast between left, centre and right?

With the fall of the autocratic Awami League regime, our differences have once again surfaced.

4m ago

Beyond the war of ideals: Bangladesh must be governed with pragmatism

What Bangladesh needs right now is justice and a path to healing.

6m ago

India, US both need a stable Bangladesh

However, regardless of the nature of international involvement, the ultimate responsibility for a stable Bangladesh lies with its own people.

8m ago

Misinformation campaigns and the future of Bangladesh-India relations

Many verified accounts on X are reporting rumours as actual news and sometimes just outright propagating fake news.

10m ago

An entity showing serious cracks

Whatever progressive image the ruling party had tried to build for itself has been severely fractured

10m ago

Freedom vs prosperity: A rehash of the development vs democracy debate

The declining freedoms identified in the report once again give a clear indication that the consecutive governments of Bangladesh, from multiple political parties, have repeatedly failed to empower the country's people.

1y ago

Our civil society needs to do more to challenge power structures

Over the last year, human rights defenders, demonstrators, and dissenters have been met with harassment, physical aggression, detainment, and maltreatment by the authorities.

1y ago
December 12, 2023
December 12, 2023

Bangladesh-India relations: An increasingly complicated friendship

Both Bangladeshis and Indians need to understand that they need each other in order to thrive.

November 15, 2023
November 15, 2023

Crackdown, groupthink, and the dialogue that didn’t happen

How many of us really believe that the current laws and institutions in Bangladesh lend the capacity to hold free and fair elections?

August 24, 2023
August 24, 2023

The new CSA: A draconian law made more ‘efficient’

A casual look into the draft CSA will prove that the optimism expressed by the law minister is entirely unfounded

August 1, 2023
August 1, 2023

Violence cannot be the only language of politics

Unfortunately, our history so far shows that major political shifts have only occurred as a result of violent uprisings on the streets.

May 30, 2023
May 30, 2023

Was the US visa policy against undemocratic actors necessary?

The message between the lines is that the US is keeping a very close eye on Bangladesh at the moment.

May 9, 2023
May 9, 2023

What’s our priority in the Indo-Pacific Outlook?

A primary analysis of the outlook confirms the various speculations that Bangladesh would not be tilting West and would remain adamant about its foreign policy ideal of non-alignment.

April 27, 2023
April 27, 2023

So long as DSA exists, free and fair elections are impossible

Whether or not Bangladesh can salvage its image as a democracy will entirely depend on how the next election is conducted.

February 18, 2023
February 18, 2023

Can the US Eagle Fly to Bangladesh?

In the landscape of world power rivalries, Bangladesh has somehow found itself in a dangerous and opportune position.

January 2, 2023
January 2, 2023

Infrastructure diplomacy in the context of South Asia and Bangladesh

For a developing country, geopolitics is almost always a losing game.

October 4, 2022
October 4, 2022

Gagging young voices: The unreasonable nature of our digital laws

As it stands now, any person whom law enforcement authorities deem to have breached the DSA will be arrested without a warrant.