The Encyclopedia Britannica underscores that pivotal events, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, can trigger unforeseen shifts in a country’s political and economic terrain. A robust grand strategy should be able to navigate such changes. Could the second liberation of Bangladesh on 5 August 2024 be considered on par with such a transformative event? Many forward-thinking individuals might argue that it was more than a dramatic event. This discussion may be best left to political science experts, security analysts, or self-proclaimed intellectuals known for their adaptability. However, for the general public, the second liberation represents a monumental event, breaking free from nearly fifteen years of reported oppression and systematically eroding morality, ethics, institutions, and, most importantly, the nation’s social fabric. It signifies a significant turning point in the nation's fifty-plus years of independence, underscoring the need for a robust grand strategy.

Does Bangladesh have a grand strategy? Does it need an updated one? In the wake of transformative events, nations require robust grand strategies! Caretakers, advisors, scholars, analysts, and policymakers may engage in vigorous debate on this issue, but the answer carries profound implications for Bangladesh’s national interests. After over five decades of independence under many political parties and civil and military governments, there has always been a void, let alone grand strategic continuity. Dhaka now faces finely tuned geopolitical stakes on top of ulterior schemes from within and without. A robust grand strategy is crucial in navigating these complex geopolitical stakes and internal schemes. Simultaneously, social, political, and economic rifts create an unstable foundation for establishing a grand strategic consensus. However, the planning, articulation, and implementation of a robust grand strategy under the current extremely popular interim government could pave the way for a more stable and prosperous Bangladesh, offering a beacon of hope in these challenging times. This potential for a brighter future should inspire us all to work towards a robust grand strategy for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s grand strategy is needed at a time when the euphoria of the second liberation is waning amidst the numerous real world challenges the newly formed interim government is facing. The list of wrongs done to individual citizens and institutions are endless. Those brave heart who has made supreme sacrifice cannot be brought back. But to put in place laws, rules, and regulations as appropriate under the tapestry of the grand strategy would surely give solace to their dear ones and enable them to rest in peace.Thus, there is no better time to revisit the massive literature on grand strategy—going back to the teachings of Herodotus of the political advice of Ibn Khaldun to the dealing of two of the superpowers of the time by Umar ibn al Khattab, the second caliph of Islam, to the Gen Z, our heroes—and consider how it might help Bangladesh extract from its grand strategic deficit.

It is crucial to remind our readers, particularly the advisors of the new government, of the need to prioritize undoing past wrongs and doing the best for our country. John Lewis Gaddis, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, offers a voluminous analysis of leaders' strategic decisions. In his masterly account “On Grand Strategy,” he analyzes the processes and complexities involved in devising grand strategies: “the alignment of potentially unlimited aspirations with necessarily limited capabilities.” In the aftermath of the ‘Bangla Basanta,’ the people of Bangladesh have unlimited hope and tend to forget that our capabilities are limited. Therefore, the current authority needs to understand the challenge of aligning them. In the formulae of Strategy=Ends+Way+Means, it is scholastically argued that where ‘Ends’ are ‘infinite,’ the ‘Means’ are surely ‘finite.’ Now, why do we need a “grand” strategy for Bangladesh? Gaddis answers that the adjective “grand” has to do with “what’s at stake,” which is why grand strategies traditionally have been associated “with the planning and fighting of wars.”

It seems prudent for us, after our second liberation, that “everything is at stake” if not properly guarded. When we say “everything,” we mean the bracket is pretty big. It's from the price of the daily groceries to keep them under check to the sovereignty and everything in between. That implies to start with the aphorism, “first thing first.” We need to give time to the interim government to first “undo the wrongs” piled up over fifteen years of tyranny, extravagance, and nepotism, followed by beginning to “do the best” for our beloved motherland. When we say “do the best” again, our bracket is no less big. So, we, the sensible citizens spearheaded by our fabulous youth, cannot be impatient, and our leaders sitting on the zenith in the decision-making loops must be observant, just, flexible, and creative.They need to be observant and “just” to the people, to the country, and to the victims. Thus, they should have the “strategic glance—the Napoleonic coup d’oeil” to “see the unseen,” to “know the unknown.”

Furthermore, strategic leaders and advisors need to be flexible and creative. Political theorist and philosopher Isaiah Berlin may be recalled here, who immortalized a notable line from Archilochus, an ancient Greek poet: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” The strategic leader has to identify the “big” thing. That big thing—could be an obsessive idea or an ideal abstract. This may make the leader appear decisive but will likely prevent innovation. Innovation to solve the wicked or critical problem (s) he addresses. To bring stability to the country should be one of the “top” priorities of the interim government. But Gaddis writes, “Assuming stability is one of the ways ruins get made.” He opines connecting the map of ideas of a vanished era: "Resilience accommodates the unexpected.” What should they be: a fox or a hedgehog?

Queen Elizabeth I, whom many historians admire. She defied traditional expectations by “reigning without marrying, tolerating religious differences, and letting a language gloriously grow.” Rather than impose a grand design, she responded dexterously to her changing world. Our Gen Z has understood the inner purpose of the surroundings, the realist world, and the importance of being free citizens of a sovereign state. They don’t want to be Xerxes and Napoleon, who mounted campaigns that failed because of limited “peripheral vision,” blinding them to the variables of “landscapes, logistics, climates, the morale of their troops, and the strategies of their enemies.”

When knowledgeable people discuss “democracy,” they cannot do it without mentioning the famous speech by Abraham Lincoln delivered in Gettysburg. Abraham Lincoln merits admiration. He was self-taught and amazingly intuitive. He “managed polarities: they didn’t manage him.” Bangladesh has deliberately been divided and polarized for the petty gains of unscrupulous politicians. Can Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Advisor of the interim government, unite the nation, breaking the artificial biased impediments? Likening Gaddis, this author wants to return to Tolstoy and Carl von Clausewitz, who respect theory and practice “without enslaving themselves to either.” Abstraction and specificity “reinforce each other, but never in predetermined proportions.” Like Gaddis, this author also argues that both writers considered history's contradictions and irony with “the amplitude, imagination, and honesty” that made them “the grandest strategists.” This potential for innovation in strategic leadership should inspire hope and a sense of possibility in the advisors to the interim government, under supervision of the Chief Advisor for a lively yet scholarly study of the past in service to revisit the superseded constitution, to rewrite the new constitution for Bangladesh as Bangladesh’s “Grand Strategy” to make a prosperous Bangladesh, and for them to be historically indelible.

Writer: Commodore Syed Misbah Uddin Ahmad, (C), NUP, ndc, afwc, psc, BN (retd), Director General, Bangladesh Institute of Maritime Research and Development (BIMRAD). Email: misbah28686@gmail.com