Bangladesh at a Political Crossroads: Democracy, Reform, and Geopolitics Ahead of the 2026 Elections

Bangladesh’s Pivot Point: Democracy, Geopolitics, and the 2026 Parliamentary Elections examines a critical moment in Bangladesh’s contemporary political history, as the country prepares for its first parliamentary elections since the August 2024 student-led uprising that ended the 15-year rule of the Awami League and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. With voting scheduled for February 12, the elections represent a decisive test of whether Bangladesh’s recent political rupture will lead to democratic renewal or the re-entrenchment of illiberal governance.

Drawing on extensive on-the-ground experience and policy engagement, Geoffrey Macdonald, International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Associate at the Harvard University Asia Center, will analyze the reform agenda pursued by Muhammad Yunus’s Interim Government over the past eighteen months. The talk will explore both the ambition and the limitations of these reforms, including efforts to address long-standing patterns of political violence, partisan retribution, and weak institutional accountability. Macdonald will assess the prospects for codifying these reforms under a new elected government and the structural obstacles that continue to shape Bangladesh’s political culture.

The seminar will also situate Bangladesh’s domestic political transition within a shifting geopolitical landscape. As Bangladesh’s strategic importance has grown over the past decade, successive governments have pursued a policy of diplomatic “hedging,” maintaining close ties with India while balancing relationships with the United States and China. With elections imminent, the talk will consider how regional and global actors are responding to the possibility of political change in Dhaka, and what a post-Hasina government might mean for South Asia’s regional order and great-power competition in Asia.

The event will be moderated by James Robson, James C. Kralik and Yunli Lou Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard College Professor, and Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute. 

For full event details and registration information, please see the event page.