Ali Riaz is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Illinois State University, USA. He was the Department Chair between 2007 and 2017. He previously taught at universities in Bangladesh, England and South Carolina; served as a Broadcast Journalist at BBC in London, and was a Public Policy Scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Centers for Scholars at Washington D.C.
Ali Riaz 03 Apr 2021 Prothom Alo Prothom Alo illustration Autocratic governments are gaining ground in various countries of the world. In many countries the governments are doing away with democratic norms despite coming to power on public mandate. There is also a move to promote the idea that democracy has no hard and fast
READ MOREAli Riaz 11 April 2020 Dhaka Tribune A disaster on many levels / REUTERS Unless people at the bottom can benefit from relief measures, Bangladesh will not be able to recover from the Covid-19 crisis The Bangladeshi government’s $8 billion stimulus package, about 2.5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), primarily focuses on industries,
READ MOREby Ali Riaz 19 March 2020 India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina before their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, October 5, 2019. REUTERS/Altaf Hussain Bangladesh’s decision to cancel the public celebration event of ‘the Mujib centennial’ due to public health concerns after the detection of
READ MOREAli Riaz December 30, 2019 The Daily Star YEAR END SPECIAL A Year of Paradoxes The most appropriate description of the year 2019, particularly of Bangladeshi politics, is perhaps a dialogue in Act 3, Scene 4, of the Twelfth Night of William Shakespeare: “If this were play’d upon a stage now, I could condemn it
READ MOREThe Daily Star December 01, 2019 Two contexts of influx from India People check their names after the publication of the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the Morigoan district, Assam, on August 31, 2019. PHOTO: AFP Ali Riaz The influx of people from India crossing the borders to Bangladesh in the
READ MOREby Ali Riaz September 08, 2019 The bizarre phenomenon called updating the National Registry of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, completed under the auspices of the Indian central government with direct supervision of the Indian Supreme Court, which made 1.9 million people stateless citizens, has engendered strange events to date and indicates the likelihood of stranger
READ MOREAli Riaz 16 August 2019 More than a week has passed since Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution have been scrapped by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government. The complete communication lockdown in Kashmir, imposed in the wake of the abrogation, is still in place; curfew is yet to be lifted in some places; leaders
READ MOREby Ali Riaz 27 July 2019 Although there is no universally accepted definition of the term governance, it has become a buzzword since the 1980s. Policymakers and academics seem to agree that governance is fundamental to both economic and social development and that it cannot be left to governments alone. Over the past decades, the
READ MOREAli Riaz 5 July 2019 The public announce-ment of the resignation of Rahul Gandhi as president of the Indian National Congress on Wednesday was surprising and expected, at once. Soon after the results of the Lok Sabha were announced on May 23, 2019, which delivered a serious blow to the Congress as the Bharatiya Janata
READ MOREAli Riaz 23 April 2019 The wave of terrorist attacks in Sri Lankan churches and hotels frequented by foreigners, which killed at least 290 people and injured around 500, is astounding both in scale and sophistication in planning. This is undoubtedly one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in South Asia in the past decade.
READ MOREAli Riaz March 2, 2019 Oscar Wilde wrote in his 1889 essay “The Decay of Lying” that, “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.” Little did he know that a century and a few decades later his words would be true in the most literal sense. The events around us often seem so
READ MOREAli Riaz | Prothom Alo Mar 1, 2019 The perennial conflict between India and Pakistan has now taken on proportions of direct military conflict. There is no saying that this will not evolve into a full-fledged war. There is still time to bring things under control, but no room for complacence. Even a limited war
READ MOREby Ali Riaz 24 February 2019 There seems to be an ongoing campaign to have the electoral exercise devoid of the spirit of politics. PHOTO: ANISUR RAHMAN Politics have gone missing from Bangladesh. This may sound naïve, considering that the country had a national election less than two months ago and several elections are upcoming.
READ MOREAli Riaz | Dec 29, 2018 Tomorrow is the election. What sort of election will it be? It has already become unprecedented in many ways. This is the first time that the ruling party and the prime minister Sheikh Hasina are contending to come to power for the third consecutive time. And for the first
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