M. Shoeb Chowdhury

BANGLADESH has been of little relevance in the past to the US. However the rapid changes in the global landscape and Bangladesh's geographical location is being considered to be of strategic interest to the pentagon and state department.

Given the geographical location of Bangladeshsituated between South and South East Asia Bangladeshit is in an advantaged position to serve as a launching pad from which America might like to checkmate the growing economic and military power of China.

Hillary's visit to Dhaka may be the first step in a series of transactions that will have significant bearing on future US activities in the continent of Asia. This visit could help American leadership to solve some of the global and local global problems — the violent extremism, climate change, eradicating poverty and political instability -- that Bangladesh faces.

Dhaka needs an effective international cooperation to ensure its MDGs or achieve the visions of 2021. But the international cooperation to Bangladesh is not in the right track due to the incidence of corruption. The conflict with the World Bank on the construction of Padma Bridge is an example which makes it harder for the ruling party's 'Vision 2021.’I believe US secretary of state Hillary Clinton

can play a vital role of mobilising action for the help of Bangladesh's international cooperation.

In this region, the politics of terror is a threat to its social order. The rise of internet at the turn of the millennium is creating new dimension, e-commerce or online dependability makes a socioeconomic revolution in modern human lives. But the cyber attacks against government agencies and business in the world continue to rise, and cyber threats will one day surpass the danger of terrorism to the global intelligence community threat. It was very evident by a regular cyber attacks by the Chinese and Indian hackers. Bangladesh is not too behind in this regard.

Regarding terrorism, Hillary Clinton

rightly said “we recognise the threat that terrorism poses to people everywhere. We understand terrorism is not a new phenomenon, but, unfortunately, given advances in technology and communication and travel and so many other of the ways we live together today, terrorism has become truly global and, unfortunately, an ongoing threat to us all.”

In this connection, Hillary is likely to discuss, with the political and military leadership in Bangladesh, ways to combat terrorism and extremism; particularly against the Islamic militants groups. This visit may assist Bangladesh with the necessary support to continue its counterterrorism and counterinsurgency campaigns.

The US intends to see Bangladesh, a moderate Muslim country, continue its social and economic progress marginalising extremists' thoughts. So, political and economic stability in the country is the key to pursuit the goal.

Trade might also be in the agenda. The US wants to sign a trade and commerce pact with Bangladesh, known as TIFA, to expedite trade flows between the two countries as well as protecting US business interest in Bangladesh. However, there is little information on Dhaka's preparation to sign the proposed treaty.

The US secretary of state could also strongly emphasis on the peaceful democratic process to pacify the political instability in Bangladesh. Since the democratic transition in 1990s, the US rendered a strong support to consolidate the process and in the past the major political parties in Bangladesh sought its help when the country saw some occasional slips from the democratic process.

Finally, Hillary Clinton like many international personalities, is very much concerned about the recent incident concerning Nobel laureate professor Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. She is an effective supporter of microcredit and its pioneer Muhammad Yunus. This visit may help making a closer relation with the government of Bangladesh and Professor Yunus and the Grameen bank.

The writer is an Entrepreneur and General Secretary, International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) Bangladesh. E-mail: msc4u@live.com