Can Bangladesh break free from its extractive past?

This opinion article by Dr. Kazi Maruful Islam, published in The Daily Star on August 5, 2026, examines Bangladesh's political and institutional struggles in the two years following the July-August 2024 mass uprising, using Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson's framework from Why Nations Fail to argue that the country's extractive institutions are actively resisting democratic reform. The article covers several interconnected challenges: entrenched political and economic elites blocking reform commission proposals, internal fragmentation between political forces like the BNP and the new National Citizen Party, economic instability with inflation at 9.17%, disruptions in education and the bureaucracy, and the spread of misinformation on social media. The author also notes that the Bangladesh Armed Forces remain the only institution maintaining relative stability. The piece concludes with an urgent warning that Bangladesh's elites must be pressured into genuine consensus on reform agendas before elections are held, or the country risks repeating its cycle of extractive governance and institutional failure.

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The Daily Star

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The Daily Star

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