Forging a Path of Strategic Pragmatism for Bangladesh’s Ascent

Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir

The unravelling of the liberal international order and the emergence of a new geoeconomic age have redrawn the contours of state power and economic opportunity. Globalisation, once driven by the promise of open markets and multilateral cooperation, is increasingly being reshaped by the logic of competition and control. Major powers are now using trade rules, industrial policies, technology regimes, and financial systems as instruments of strategic influence. For developing countries, the stability once provided by multilateral institutions is giving way to a fragmented order defined by asymmetry, rivalry, and uncertainty.

For Bangladesh, this transformation is unfolding at a historic moment. The nation stands on the threshold of graduating from Least Developed Country (LDC) status, an achievement that signifies decades of progress but also exposes new vulnerabilities. The withdrawal of preferential trade benefits, the preference cliff, will challenge the sustainability of a growth model dependent on external privileges.

As it seeks to build a trillion-dollar economy by 2034, Bangladesh must navigate the dual challenge of sustaining growth amid global turbulence while preserving policy autonomy. This calls for neither isolation nor naïve openness but a conscious, calibrated, and sovereign engagement with the world—a doctrine of strategic pragmatism.

Understanding Strategic Pragmatism
Strategic pragmatism is not a tactical manoeuvre; it is a philosophy of statecraft suited to a world in flux. It rejects both rigid alignment and opportunistic neutrality, offering instead a dynamic framework for pursuing national interests through flexible, evidence-based engagement. At its essence, it recognises that in a deeply interdependent world, sovereignty is not secured by disengagement but by the intelligent management of interdependence.
The concept embodies three core characteristics. First, purposeful realism — an acceptance of structural constraints coupled with the will to convert them into opportunities. It requires reading global shifts not as threats to be feared but as terrains to be navigated through strategic negotiation. Second, instrumental engagement—treating external relations not as ends in themselves but as tools for advancing domestic development, technology transfer, and institutional capacity. Third, adaptive coherence—the ability to balance multiple relationships and changing conditions while maintaining a clear, long-term national direction.

Strategic pragmatism thus merges the logic of diplomacy with the imperatives of development. It aligns foreign relations with structural transformation, ensuring that international cooperation contributes directly to domestic capability. It demands a state that is alert, analytical, and adaptive—a state that knows what it wants and how to secure it without compromising its autonomy.

From 1G Success to 2G Transformation
Bangladesh’s first-generation economic model, anchored in low-cost labour, remittances, and trade preferences, delivered growth, employment, and poverty reduction. Yet this model’s foundations are fragile. Its reliance on a single export sector, limited technological upgrading, and dependence on external preferences have created vulnerabilities. The erosion of multilateralism and the rise of protectionism now expose these structural limits.

The next phase—what may be termed the second-generation, or 2G, transformation—demands a deliberate shift toward economic diversification, innovation, and institutional resilience. This transformation is not merely economic; it is strategic. It requires new capabilities in negotiation, governance, and industrial policy. Bangladesh must become not only a producer of goods but also a producer of ideas, technology, and knowledge. The path to the 2G economy runs through strategic pragmatism: integrating external capital, markets, and knowledge into a national development framework that strengthens autonomy and sustainability.

The Bangladesh Strategy
Strategic pragmatism finds its concrete expression in what can be termed the Bangladesh Strategy—a coherent national doctrine that fuses foreign policy, development planning, and state-building. This strategy is not reactive; it is proactive, designed to preserve autonomy while expanding opportunity in a volatile world. It rests on three interdependent foundations: sovereign autonomy, diversified engagement, and domestic capacity building.

Sovereign autonomy is the core objective of the strategy. Every external engagement—be it trade, investment, or diplomacy—must be evaluated by a single measure: whether it enhances Bangladesh’s capacity for independent decision-making. The purpose is to prevent dependency, not engagement; to ensure that foreign partnerships strengthen the nation’s internal strength rather than dilute it. Autonomy in this sense does not mean isolation from the world, but mastery within it—the ability to participate without being subordinated.

Strategic diversification is the principal instrument of achieving that autonomy. Bangladesh’s engagement with the world must be multi-vector and multi-layered. It should sustain constructive relations with all major powers—regional and global—while deepening partnerships with emerging economies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. By maintaining a balanced portfolio of relationships, Bangladesh can expand its bargaining space, mitigate risks, and enhance its capacity to shape outcomes. Multi-alignment thus becomes a strategy of empowerment, transforming a small-state position into leverage.

Domestic capacity building forms the foundational pillar of the Bangladesh Strategy. External finance, trade agreements, and investment flows must be aligned with a national agenda of capability enhancement. This includes technological upgrading, skill formation, institutional reform, and knowledge creation. Infrastructure must be treated as an instrument of production and social transformation, not merely as a physical asset. Governance frameworks should embed accountability, local participation, and technology transfer in all external projects. By linking foreign partnerships to domestic capacity, Bangladesh ensures that external engagement becomes a catalyst for self-reliance rather than a conduit for dependence.

The Bangladesh Strategy thus integrates global pragmatism with national purpose. It is designed to convert the pressures of globalisation into developmental advantage, transforming Bangladesh from a reactive participant in the world economy into an assertive and strategic actor capable of setting its own agenda.

Regional Vision and the Bay of Bengal Convergence
Strategic pragmatism must also extend beyond bilateral engagement to a regional vision. Bangladesh’s geography—situated between South and Southeast Asia and facing the Bay of Bengal—positions it as a natural bridge between major growth corridors. Yet South Asia remains the least integrated region in the world, with intra-regional trade under six percent of total trade. By leading efforts to enhance connectivity, harmonise trade facilitation, and promote cross-border energy and digital cooperation, Bangladesh can redefine its regional role.

The Bay of Bengal Convergence represents the spatial expression of strategic pragmatism. Through participation in platforms such as BIMSTEC and regional connectivity initiatives, Bangladesh can anchor itself in emerging Asian value chains and innovation networks. Engaging East Asia’s technological dynamism, ASEAN’s institutional experience, and South Asia’s demographic potential could enable Bangladesh to diversify markets, attract investment, and foster shared growth. Regional cooperation, pursued through pragmatism rather than idealism, will multiply Bangladesh’s strategic weight and economic resilience.

Embedding Pragmatism in Governance
For strategic pragmatism to succeed, it must be institutionalised within the state’s governance architecture. This requires coherence among ministries of foreign affairs, finance, planning, commerce, and industry, underpinned by evidence-based policy coordination. The state must possess the analytical capacity to assess the risks and returns of international agreements, ensuring that each engagement aligns with national priorities. Strategic pragmatism also demands policy predictability and transparency—traits that enhance credibility abroad and stability at home.

Embedding this doctrine within development planning would allow Bangladesh to use diplomacy as an extension of its economic strategy. External borrowing, trade negotiations, and investment deals would then be guided by the principles of fiscal sustainability, technological upgrading, and social inclusion. Pragmatism, in this sense, is not the absence of principle but the disciplined application of principle to changing conditions.

The Path Forward
The age of predictable globalisation is over. What replaces it is a world of competing systems, technological rivalry, and shifting alliances. For Bangladesh, the challenge is to rise within this disorder—to turn volatility into opportunity. Strategic pragmatism provides the intellectual and operational compass for doing so. It aligns diplomacy with development, external engagement with internal transformation, and ambition with restraint.

Bangladesh’s ascent will not depend on choosing sides in the new global rivalry, but on mastering the art of navigating between them. Its strength will come from its capacity to integrate, adapt, and lead—from preference-dependence to production dynamism, from passive participation to proactive negotiation, from vulnerability to sovereignty. Strategic pragmatism, pursued consciously and consistently, is the doctrine that can secure this future: a framework for national resilience, a pathway for transformation, and a philosophy of sovereignty in an uncertain world.

(The author is Professor in the Department of Development Studies at the University
of Dhaka.)