I woke up the morning of January 21 and saw that President Trump had been inaugurated the previous day.
I noticed that the world had not ended and learned that Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus and his colleagues continued to do their important work to reform Bangladesh in advance of general elections.
I further realized that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina remained a fugitive from justice in New Delhi. Taking this all in, I wondered how her vocal supporters had reconciled themselves to the failure of their often-repeated predictions that everything would change once Trump was in office.
On a personal note, I was “relieved” that no FBI agents had knocked at my door to arrest me for the “crime” of being a deep state operative of the Clinton Foundation, George Soros, or the illuminati.
In the days since the inauguration, some outlines of the Trump Administration’s foreign policy priorities have come into focus.
As expected, President Trump took immediate steps to address the crisis at America’s borders and the broader issue of immigration.
He also signaled an intent to address trade issues and energy security, while de-emphasizing the importance of global climate change and withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization.
It was encouraging to see Secretary Marco Rubio confirmed unanimously on Trump’s first day in office and arrive to work the following day to lead the Department of State, where he pledged to reassert the Department’s historic leading role in the formulation and execution of foreign policy.
The Trump Administration also signaled the importance of the Indo-Pacific region by inviting foreign ministers from the Quad (US, Australia, Japan, and India) to the inauguration and later holding joint and bilateral meetings with them at State.
While all this was happening in Washington, Chief Advisor Yunus was attending the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, where he held a number of important bilateral meetings and participated in several panels and thematic events.
Yunus’ presence in Davos underscored both his global celebrity as well as the broad international coalition that has assembled to support Bangladesh’s reform agenda.
No doubt, much of the public and private discussion in Davos centred on events in Washington as participants considered how to best engage with the Trump Administration.
Returning to the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting, those who want to see a better future for Bangladesh should be encouraged by the language used in the joint statement issued by participants.
This reads in part: “We, the Secretary of State of the United States and the foreign ministers of Australia, India, and Japan, met today in Washington DC to reaffirm our shared commitment to strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific where the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are upheld and defended.”
As I have argued before, in this context, the success of Bangladesh’s democratic and political reforms becomes more important than ever, as it can stand as a model for the values that underpin the Quad’s agenda.
Nothing that Bangladesh’s interim government is currently doing can be interpreted as being at odds with the goals articulated by the Quad foreign ministers.
In the coming weeks and months, further details about the Trump Administration’s policy in South Asia will emerge, particularly once key political appointees are named and go through the Senate confirmation process.
In time, the Trump and Rubio teams will turn their attention to Bangladesh and engage with the interim government and other stakeholders.
In my view, Bangladesh has nothing to fear from the Trump Administration and should instead continue to focus on taking advantage of this historic opportunity to build a better future in partnership with the U.S. and others.
Jon Danilowicz is an Independent Foreign Policy Analyst and Retired Senior Foreign Service Officer.
