Security experts and academics have urged the government to urgently recalibrate the country’s state architecture to navigate an era of rapid, multidimensional change where traditional policy frameworks are increasingly becoming obsolete.
At a roundtable convened by the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) on 26 January 2026, speakers warned that as an “emerging middle power,” Bangladesh can no longer remain insulated from instantaneous global shocks.
The roundtable, titled “Global Trends 2026,” highlighted a decisive retreat from the post-Cold War rules-based order toward a landscape of raw power politics. Dr Saima Ahmed, assistant professor at the University of Dhaka, noted that major powers are now aggressively pursuing “narrow, hard-core national interests,” leading to a systematic bypassing of multilateral institutions.
This shift has resulted in a transactional global environment where values-based diplomacy is replaced by interstate friction and low trust. For countries in the Global South, survival now dictates a policy of strategic repositioning to ensure national interests do not become collateral damage in the competition between global titans.
The battlefield of international competition has moved beyond traditional trade to a high-stakes race for resources essential for electrification and decarbonisation. Parvez Karim Abbasi of East West University emphasised that lithium, copper, and rare earth elements are the new determinants of geopolitical gravity.
As trade and finance become “securitised” through alternative payment systems, experts argued that Bangladesh must prioritise strategic autonomy. This involves diversifying supply chains toward resource-rich frontiers like Central Asia and Latin America to ensure long-term mineral and energy security. Strengthening domestic economic resilience is now a prerequisite for maintaining balanced foreign relations in a fractured market.
The discussion also pivoted to the “technological order,” where traditional security doctrines are being challenged by agentic AI – autonomous systems capable of executing actions that affect governance. Shafqat Munir, head of the Bangladesh Centre for Terrorism Research, warned of an “epistemic breakdown” caused by deepfakes and AI-generated disinformation, which renders factual consensus nearly impossible.
Other emerging frontiers of existential risk include AI-enabled terrorism, decentralized lethal technologies like 3D-printed weapons, and grey-zone warfare – hostile operations that destabilise the state through hybrid means and cyber-sabotage. These risks are further compounded by climate change, which has evolved into a fundamental productivity and security threat.
To withstand these disruptions, the experts distilled three non-negotiable strategic priorities for Bangladesh: Maintaining strategic autonomy, integrating a unified security framework, and strengthening institutional capacity.
In his closing remarks, BIPSS President Maj Gen ANM Muniruzzaman underscored that the era of reactive policy has ended. He stressed that the future is something the nation must proactively shape through strategic foresight, or risk being swept away by the uncompromising currents of a fragmented world.
