A Professional Journal of National Defence College

Volume 19 Number 2 December 2020

National Defence College Bangladesh EDITORIAL BOARD

Chief Patron Lieutenant General Ataul Hakim Sarwar Hasan, SBP, SGP, ndc, afwc, psc, PhD Editor-in-Chief Rear Admiral M Shafiul Azam, NUP, ndc, psc Editor Colonel M A Saadi, afwc, psc Associate Editors Brigadier General Muhammad Ali Talukder, ndc, afwc, psc Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Alamgir Iqbal Khan, psc, Arty Assistant Editors Assistant Professor Nishat Sultana Assistant Director Md Nazrul Islam

ISSN: 1683-8475

DISCLAIMER

The analysis, opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the NDC, Bangladesh Armed Forces or any other agencies of Bangladesh Government. Statement, fact or opinion appearing in NDC Journal are solely those of the authors and do not imply endorsement by the editors or publisher.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electrical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published by the National Defence College, Bangladesh Design & Printed by : Isamoti Printers 89/3, Nayapaltan, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh Cell: 01947540934, E mail: [email protected] CONTENTS Page Foreword v Editorial vi Abstracts vii

Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications 01 for Bangladesh By - Brigadier General Tamjidul Haque Chowdhury, ndc, afwc, psc

Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Challenges on 23 National Security of Bangladesh By - Brigadier General Abu Hena Mohammad Sadrul Alam, ndc, psc

Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges 40 and Opportunities By - Brigadier General Mohammod Al Masum, PBGM, ndc, psc

Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security 60 Issues – Bangladesh Perspective By - Brigadier General Md. Sadequzzaman, ndc, afwc, psc

Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio- 89 Economic Analysis By - Joint Secretary Abdul Latif Khan, ndc

The Guiding Significance of Sun Tzu’s the Art of War to China’s 108 Current National Security Strategy By - Colonel Zhou Mingjun, ndc

Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries 122 in the Contemporary Environment By - Group Captain Syed Hashmat Iqbal, ndc, fawc, psa 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for 141 Organizational Effectiveness By - Colonel Md Mafizul Islam Rashed, afwc, psc

Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh 167 Army through a Regulated Professional Ambition By - Colonel Golam Kibria Zaman, afwc, psc

Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of 191 Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward By - Lieutenant Colonel Shahriar Kabir, afwc, psc, Signals

Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing a New Leadership 214 Style for Bangladesh Armed Forces By - Commander Khandakar Elius Kanchon, (G), afwc, psc, BN

Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh 235 By - Captain Mirza Mamun-ur-Rashid, (G), afwc, psc, BN

Air Forces In and Out 4th Generation Warfare 258 By - Group Captain Muhammad Mushtaqur Rahman, BPP, afwc, psc

IV FOREWORD

National Defence College has been striving since 1999 with a vision to be the premier national centre of excellence on leadership, defence, security, strategy and development studies - meeting the challenges of the 21st century. Since its inception, the college has been relentlessly presenting time - befitting academic curricula to the potential policy planners, senior leaders and strategic thinkers of the future. The college aims to create a balanced outlook and bring a visualization amongst the Course Members with a strategic and operational level understanding. The chronicles of past 21 years testify the viability of the academic system that has contributed to this leading institution in gaining reputation of excellence at home and abroad. National Defence College being the highest level national institution in Bangladesh, has always been emphasizing on conducting research on contemporary issues of national importance. The common aim of research work is to enable Course Members to make original contribution to a subject of national or international interest, which has influence on national security and development. NDC journal reflects the notable research works carried out by Course Members and Faculty of the college. I am assertive that the Research Papers included in this journal encompassing varied subjects would be considerably useful for the readers. I congratulate all authors who contributed to this journal. I appreciate the sincere efforts of Research and Academic Wing and acknowledge the hard work of editorial board to publish this journal in due time.

Ataul Hakim Sarwar Hasan, SBP, SGP, ndc, afwc, psc, PhD Lieutenant General Commandant

V EDITORIAL National Defence College, Bangladesh is the premier national center of excellence on leadership, Security, Strategy and Development Studies. The College believes that a senior officer from military and civil services should have a good understanding of the major economic, political and social issues of the nation and be able to recommend measures to face the challenges. Hence NDC regularly conducts various research works on contemporary issues of national as well as international importance. NDC Journal is a bi-annual publication of National Defence College publishing selected research papers prepared by the course members. The articles for the journal (Volume 19, Number 2, December 2020) are mostly selected from individual research papers that the Course Members had submitted as part of the course curriculums. National Defence College has been very regular in bringing out `NDC Journal` every year on time. This speaks of the laborious effort and genuine commitment on the part of both the editorial staffs and the writers. A total of 13 (thirteen) Research Papers have been adjudged for publication in the current issue in abridged form. The articles reflect complex and intricate multidimensional issues emanating from the long diversified experience of the course members and the curriculum based deliberations and discourse on various topics concerning comprehensive national security during the trainings. This volume includes papers of different categories that will be able to draw the attention of varied groups of reader. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Chief Patron Lieutenant General Ataul Hakim Sarwar Hasan, SBP, SGP, ndc, afwc, psc, PhD, the Commandant of NDC for his valuable guidance. Research is a highly committed undertaking. Despite all efforts, unintentional errors in various forms may appear in the journal. We ardently request our valued readers to pardon us for such unnoticed slights and shall consider ourselves rewarded to receive any evocative criticism. We hope that all papers included in this volume will be able to satisfy our readers.

M Shafiul Azam, NUP, ndc, psc Rear Admiral Senior Directing Staff (Navy)

VI ABSTRACT

INFORMATION SECURITY IN DIGITAL ERA - POLICY AND STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS FOR BANGLADESH

Brigadier General Tamjidul Haque Chowdhury, ndc, afwc, psc Information security had always been a matter of great concern over the ages resulting in invention of cypher techniques in 50 B.C. The pursuit of securitizing information continued all along though security professionals are facing enormous challenges owing to digital transformation. The advent of cyberspace, proliferation of digital device, rise of social media, upsurge of unethical hackers and spammers, increase of cybercrimes, creation of billion dollars’ business on privacy data, state sponsored attack on targeted websites and devices etc are some of the syndromes which render the traditional information security system completely off balanced. Bangladesh’s growth to contest the challenges was relatively slow and thus ranked towards the bottom in different cybersecurity indices measured by global partners. Thus a comprehensive policy guidance would be required to secure its information domain in order to support the vision of being a developing country by 2041. In doing so, Bangladesh’s vision would be to “Develop digitally, connected safe, secure and reliable Sonar Bangla by 2030”. The policy/ strategic objectives would include review and development of legislative documents and establishment of a separate regulatory commission which would ensure security and promote innovations. The cyberspace management would entail formulation of both conventional and unconventional cyber force through appropriate recruiting and training. Most importantly, Bangladesh needs to reduce dependency on foreign tech giants and develop own information and communication infrastructure including search engine and e-commerce based social media platforms to replace Google and Facebook in future. Besides, a secure and independent voice and data communication system are to be developed for the use of government officials. Last but not the least, strong bi-lateral and multilateral engagements and structured coordination and cooperation architecture would be essential to compete the security challenges of the information domain.

Key Words: Information Security, Security Challenges, Information Domain, Digital Era.

VII SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF ROHINGYA REFUGEE CRISIS: CHALLENGES ON NATIONAL SECURITY OF BANGLADESH

Brigadier General Abu Hena Mohammad Sadrul Alam, ndc, psc Rohingya refugee crisis is a long drawn issue of Myanmar with Bangladesh. Rohingyas were mainstream citizens of Myanmar as revealed through historical perspectives, but Government of Myanmar excluded them from citizenship over a process from 1961 to 1982 through Citizenship Law. Following persecution in different times, Rohingyas took shelter in Bangladesh in four previous occasions and most of them were repatriated through bilateral and international efforts. The recent influx of Rohingyas into Bangladesh after 25 August 2017 was a massive one accumulating up to about 1.1 million residing in make-shift camps in Ukhia, Teknaf and Cox’s Bazaar areas within Bangladesh. Government of Bangladesh along with NGOs, International NGOs, UN and other organizations and agencies took tremendous efforts after identification of the issue as a humanitarian crisis and continued to maintain basic and daily supports to a great extent. The effort of Bangladesh Government in accepting them into her borders has been overwhelmingly praised as one of the most humanitarian gesture worldwide. This research has analyzed how the socio-economic impacts of the crisis have gradually affected the lifestyles and living of the locals, the environment and economy of Bangladesh. It has also found out that, Rohingyas being a marginalized group of people have gradually been engaged in multifarious disputes with locals and got involved in illegal trafficking, theft, dacoity and activities jeopardizing social harmony, demographic picture, law and order situations within Bangladesh besides remaining always vulnerable to radicalism and extremism. This research has also examined how the overall impactsof the crisis led to develop considerable challenges to national security of Bangladesh in the long run. It also recommended the imperatives which Government of Bangladesh should undertake bilaterally, regionally and internationally besides maintaining a security posture to offset insecurity issues.

Key Words: Rohingya, Humanitarian, Marginalized, Socio-economic, Vulnerable.

VIII CHANGING ROLE OF UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Brigadier General Mohammod Al Masum, PBGM, ndc, psc United Nations Peacekeeping Operations proved to be the most reliable and effective tool for maintaining peace and stability of the world. Hence the global demand of the peacekeepers remains at the top and unlikely to be changed in the foreseeable future. Bangladesh is one of the highest troops contributing country and second top police contributing country. Our Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said to the UN General Assembly, “We do not want war. We want peace. We want people’s wellbeing - not destruction of humanity. We want sustainable development. Let this be our collective goal.” That is the commitment of Bangladesh government and we will continue to reaffirm on this. The nature and complexity of modern peace operations continues to evolve. Presently Peacekeepers increasingly face direct threats from the armed groups and targeted by asymmetric attacks. Adverse environments, severe conflicts, completely different cultures, asymmetric threats to the peacekeepers, non-cooperation from the Host Nation are few of the major challenges for the peacekeepers. ‘Protection of Civilians’ is likely to remain a central task of peacekeeping operations, hence the primary focus, mind-set and posture of the peacekeepers are expected to be people- focused, pro-active, robust, and capable of protracted deployments. In order to fight the challenges, today’s UN peacekeeping operations must increasingly be dynamic, robust and are expected to perform multiple and interdependent tasks in volatile operating environments. This requires correct identification of challenges from different perspectives in order to better utilize the opportunities for the future peacekeepers. In the light of forgoing, the research work on ‘Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations - Challenges and Opportunities’ is time-worthy. The paper has been developed for academic purpose with full devotion, using acquired knowledge with working experiences in ongoing peace operations. I am sure, that this paper is going to benefit all the future peacekeepers to the greatest extent.

Key Words: United Nations, Peacekeeping Operations, Peace and Stability.

IX IMPACT OF FOOD SECURITY ON THE DOMAIN OF NON-TRADITIONAL SECURITY ISSUES – BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVE

Brigadier General Md. Sadequzzaman, ndc, afwc, psc Food is the most important need for every human being to survive. Throughout the ages the rulers, kings and the monarchs have paid highest attention in arranging food for their people. Mere availability doesn’t necessarily mean the security of food. In modern days issue of food has been viewed from the security parlance. Sufficient quantity, adequate nutrients, free from adulteration and making it available for the populace especially the marginalized segment under pins the benchmark of the food security. Supposedly all these criterions are to be fulfilled while ensuring food security for the people. The paradigm of national security does not certainly mean that securing a country from external aggression alone but also from the Non Traditional Security (NTS) threats. Bangladesh is a densely populated country. Providing food to the large number of population from its internal sources remains a great challenge. The national security in a country like Bangladesh may be threatened due to the breach of food security which is fragment of NTS issue.

Both qualitative and quantitative analysis have been carried out in this research basing on the available data from primary and secondary resources. A set of questionnaires were circulated to verify the variables and thereby form the opinions. Bangladesh produces sufficient food grains yet it is far from achieving the food security. Historical evidences state that the food insecurity may entail dire consequences to loss of human lives, political and social unrest in the country. A comprehensive response strategy to include short, medium and long term plan may ensure food security in Bangladesh. This may include the existing policy review, conducting extensive research work, curving the food adulteration, maintaining emergency food stock, addressing climate change issues, use of modern technology in agriculture, increasing storage capacity, allocating more subsidy, establishing regional food bank, setting up agro-based industry, international water sharing treaty, conservation of agricultural land and adherence to the Delta Plan 2100.

Key Words: Food, Nutrition, Human Security, Adulteration, Populace, Regulations, Delta Plan.

X EMPLOYMENT OF BANGLADESHI FEMALE WORKERS ABROAD: A SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Joint Secretary Abdul Latif Khan, ndc Overseas employment for the citizen of Bangladesh is a very important issue and it is the development alternative for the country. Remittance sent by migrant workers is playing important role to employment generation, reduce poverty and to broaden flow of foreign currency. Since 1976 officially overseas employment was an opportunity for male workforces of Bangladesh but since 1991 female workforces are in a position to take part in that discourse and at present it has become a general trend.

In Bangladesh, unemployment of female workers are larger than that of male workers. Semi-skilled and less-skilled women workforces are also burden for the country as because local job opportunity is not sufficient to absorb them in the streamline of productivity. So overseas employment is an alternative for female workers and is also a development alternative for their socio-economic development vis-à-vis as the part of overall development of the nation. By overseas employment female migrants are in a position to develop their financial conditions, ensure social status and be empowered in the context of family and social domain. But there are some vulnerabilities for female migrants which sometimes threaten the future dimension of process and progress. Female migrants often face mental and physical torture and even sexual abuse. They are not considered as the regular workforce in destination country and their protection and rights are not ensured. Often female migrant workers become isolated from their husband, children and that make them stigma and also they become frustrated. With the prevailing situation, the study has been conducted to analyze the overall situation of migrant female workers of Bangladesh, their problems, prospects and impact to the socio- economic context. The study has been conducted by literature review, collecting information and data from the female migrants and other stakeholders, examining practical working experience, case studies which are pertinent to the context of analyzing on socio-economic impact of female migrant workers.

Key Words: Overseas Employment, Remittance, Female Workers, Female Migrants.

XI THE GUIDING SIGNIFICANCE OF SUN TZU’S THE ART OF WAR TO CHINA’S CURRENT NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY

Colonel Zhou Mingjun, ndc The Art of War by Sun Tzu is the first complete theoretical system of military in ancient China. It not only expounds the rich military thoughts, but also contains a deep consideration to national security. Under the development of globalization, the international structure is undergoing great changes. To maintain the national security is the basic right and responsibility of every sovereign states. Today China is at a crucial period of strategic opportunity and development. Whether the “Chinese Dream” can be realized depends on the right strategic security with Chinese characteristic. In the “China Peacefully Rising”, the policymakers of China should carefully analyze the international situation, define the national interests, identify the national status, and have a good understanding of the country’s strategic goal and development direction. This research paper aims to reach several objectives including identification of the strategic security related characteristics in The Art of War by Sun Tzu, and how this work influenced the international security strategy of China.

Key Words: Art of War, China, Strategic Security, National Security Strategy.

EFFICACY OF SOFT POWER IN STATE’S FOREIGN POLICY FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN THE CONTEMPORARY ENVIRONMENT

Group Captain Syed Hashmat Iqbal, ndc, fawc, psa This paper analyses the efficacy of soft power in the matters of foreign policy for developing countries. An effort is made during the study to examine that how developing countries can exercise their soft power options for influencing the foreign policy objectives. We are living in an era in which nation-states, in pursuit of economic and vital strategic resources, are striving to balance Hard Power capabilities with Soft Power in order to achieve preferred results. It is even more applicable for the developing countries because of the fact that developing countries have limited resources vis-à-vis enormous challenges to cope up with the contemporary world for future development. Relationship between soft power and foreign policy is discussed with especial focus to find out options for the developing countries. Soft power strategies of few countries like USA, Japan, Chına and India are also discussed with an aim to prove that Soft Power potentials are positive catalysts for the State’s Foreign Policy in respect of both developed

XII and developing countries. The study finds that the loss of Soft Power parameters especially engagement initiatives, diplomatic capability, government policies and foreign policy matters can be very costly and highly detrimental irrespective of the status of the country whether developed or developing. The study also finds that foreign policies are more successful when elements of Soft Power are capitalized in own favour as compared to solely relying on Hard Power resources. It depends on the art of utilizing the potentials of the soft power by the leaders and stakeholders of the country. Hence, art of employing elements of soft power in the best of national interest is the need of the time.

Key Words: Soft Power, Hard Power, Foreign Policy, Developed Countries, Developing Countries and National Interest.

360 DEGREE ASSESSMENTS OF OFFICERS OF BANGLADESH ARMY- A QUEST FOR ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Colonel Md Mafizul Islam Rashed, afwc, psc Prevalent Performance Evaluation System (PES) seemed to have outlived its goodness. It had very generously served the requirement of leadership of Bangladesh Army over a decade. However, with passage of time the, PES had become very much predictable and subjected to be manipulated. The prevailing culture of playing safe and over-grading was seriously hampering the credibility of the current PES. 360 Degree Assessments (360DA) – in which employees receives feedback from supervisors, subordinates and peers – had been gaining popularity as a modern Human Resource Management tool. This research investigated the 360DA system; so as to check whether, it can eradicate the well- known and already recognized weaknesses prevalent PES. Thereafter, following the ‘Goal Model’, indicators of organizational effectiveness were identified; mentionable few were operational preparedness, resilience of the organization, job satisfaction of its members, adaptability or change management, members’ motivation and innovativeness etc. 360DA was found positively influencing most of the indicators. Since, adoption of 360DA could not be validated through implementation, therefore survey results, expert opinion and user’s willingness to embrace the new system were taken as the logical base to consider the validation of hypothesis. Analysis of survey result was acceptable; therefore, the findings of the research can be summarized in a single sentence that 360DA will enhance the organizational effectiveness of Bangladesh Army.

Key Words: 360 Degree Assessment, Organizational Effectiveness, Performance Evaluation System, OPR.

XIII ENHANCING PROFESSIONALISM OF CONTEMPORARY OFFICERS OF BANGLADESH ARMY THROUGH A REGULATED PROFESSIONAL AMBITION

Colonel Golam Kibria Zaman, afwc, psc The pursuit of professionalism is a mutually assuring attribute between an individual and organization. The individual has duty to pursue the professional competence, and the organization (Army) should create enabling conditions to pursue professionalism. In Bangladesh Army, many studies have been conducted to identify and suggest action plans to curb the over-materialistic notions of the contemporary officers. However, objective of this paper is to examine if professionalism of the officers could be enhanced through carefully regulating their professional ambitions. This is a descriptive research, where a mixed method (combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses) approach has been adopted that comprises two surveys, number of interviews, FGD and content analyses. The primary samples are the contemporary officers of Bangladesh Army with service length between three to twelve years. Data have been analysed using MS Excel and presented using different charts and tables. The sample responses show that there are areas of divergences between Army’s expectation and individual’s aspirations. Many officers do not find regimental service interesting owing to various appeals created by deputations. Contemporary Officers are not very clear about the professional competence required for their rise to higher positions, and eventually put less focus on military competence development in formative stage. Research data also shows that if Army could regulate the professional ambitions, the professionalism of the contemporary officers could improve. Army could make the deputations, that the officers aspire so much, more competitive. Within Army, the ‘good posts’ can be made more appealing through various practicable steps. There is also a need to increase professional education at every tiers so that focus of military life is never swayed away. However, the adopted approach must be measured carefully as the line between meeting the demands of contemporary realities and promoting a new dimension of materialistic quest amongst officers is very thin. The cost of concession has to be weighed against its inherent danger of professional bankruptcy.

Key Words: Contemporary Officers; Professionalism; Regulated Professional Ambition

XIV ADOPTION OF EDUCATION 4.0 IN JOINT AND MAJOR TRAINING INSTITUTIONS OF BANGLADESH ARMED FORCES - CHALLENGES AND WAYS FORWARD

Lieutenant Colonel Shahriar Kabir, afwc, psc, Signals In 21st century technology is integrated into our life. Today’s technology driven modern world is the outcome of Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0. More innovative and technically skilled manpower are required to support IR 4.0. Education 4.0 is the digital learning platform to create skilled manpower. Education sector becomes more competitive and digital transformation is becoming a necessary means of survival. Many countries in the world are adopting Education 4.0 in their education system including military. Similarly education sector of Bangladesh is undergoing digitization. Bangladesh Armed Forces also need transformation in their professional training system. Till now only ‘National Defence College (NDC)’ has adopted Education 4.0 in 2019. Now it is a necessity of time to adopt Education 4.0 in joint and major professional military training institutions. To adopt Education 4.0, those military training institutions need to undergo a sustainable digital transformation which will have potential implementation challenges. In this research, the challenges are identified from various survey and data analysis to propose some solutions. The professional military training institutions have great concern for information security risks. While adopting Education 4.0 the mid-level information security risks may be resolved by ensuring a secured network environment and low level information security risks may be resolved by ensuring a restricted network environment. ‘Thin Client’ concept with secured intranet connectivity may ensure a secured network environment. Besides, other elements like - learning management system, flipped classroom, online resource materials, e-library, etc. will also be required. A secured server base network with intranet connectivity and other required elements may ensure restricted network environment. Education 4.0 will be able to create a self- paced learning environment, where students will be able to learn from anywhere and anytime. Education 4.0 helps to create the skill of building intelligence military persons who are critical thinker, creative and innovative.

Key Words: Education 4.0; Training Institutions; Armed Forces.

XV SPIRITUALITY VIS-À-VIS LEADERSHIP PRAXIS: PROPOSING A NEW LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR BANGLADESH ARMED FORCES

Commander Khandakar Elius Kanchon, (G), afwc, psc, BN The purpose of the study is to advocate for adopting spiritual leadership model to enable military leaders of BDAF to undertake challenges emanating from VUCA operational environment, negative characteristics of people from cultural inheritance, implications of socio-economic change, demands of newly promulgated defence policy, and many unknown issues in BD Armed Forces. The study identified the essential leadership attributes to enable BD Armed Forces leaders to undertake these challenges. After review of the classical leadership theories it was observed that no classical leadership theory could meet the identified essential leadership attributes. Then, the study scrutinized theoretical viewpoints relating to spirituality, spiritual leadership and spiritual intelligence. It was discovered that spiritual leadership appeared as an all-inclusive leadership style. The architecture of the proposed spiritual leadership model was based on a comparative analysis of the nine recognized leadership models. The spiritual leadership is characterized by four key attributes, namely, higher purpose and vision, core positive values, application of human intelligences and changing from the inside out. A qualitative and quantitative study was conducted to ascertain the relevance of the proposed spiritual leadership model as regards the Bangladesh Armed Forces. Both the survey and the interview respondents perceive the proposed spiritual leadership model to be highly relevant for military leaders. SWOT analysis of the model brings out weaknesses like it may create a situation where spiritually intelligent troops may not follow non-spiritually intelligent leaders and it may also lead towards a situation where there is a possibility of conflict with religion and spirituality, and potential threat of proposed SL Model was discovered as spreading propaganda labelling practice of spirituality with extremism and terrorism by opportunist. As such, slow and gradual advancement is must for the implementation of proposed SL model where first endeavour should be taken to create awareness regarding the core concept of this model and necessity of adopting it. Then endeavour may be taken to convince senior officers to behave as role models.

Key Words: Spirituality, Leadership Praxis, Leadership Style, Bangladesh Armed Forces.

XVI WARRANTING MARITIME SECURITY WITHIN BLUE ECONOMY IN BANGLADESH

Captain Mirza Mamun-ur-Rashid, (G), afwc, psc, BN Maritime Security is one of the common axioms of overall security environment. Maritime security can firstly be understood in a matrix of its relation to other concepts, such as marine safety, sea power, blue economy and resilience. An absence of appropriate maritime security measure may lead to existence of unprofitable sector in maritime domain. Bangladesh is cropping enormous benefits from its maritime domain. But this domain is not without unrest. Hence, appropriate and timely measures including adaptation of policies along with addressing the maritime security issues are necessary for a sustainable Blue Economy. A pragmatic approach enables the study of what Bangladesh should do when she claims to enhance maritime security. Hence, Bangladesh has to formulate an effective policy and ensure implementation effectively to ensure impetus to the economic wellbeing of the country.

Key Words: Blue Economy, Blue Growth, Maritime Security, Maritime Domain Awareness

AIR FORCES IN AND OUT 4TH GENERATION WARFARE

Group Captain Muhammad Mushtaqur Rahman, BPP, afwc, psc Nature of Warfare does not change though, the characteristics of warfare does. Glorious invention and introduction of Air Power in the 2oth century actually characterized the warfare into its professional and conventional setting with reach, ubiquity and speed. Recent counter modernity trend of irregular warfare has almost waddled the many strategic thoughts of mid 20th centuries. Question raised: will Air Power be capable of dealing with future non-conventional threat? Is it going to be a war between post modern space power and quasi primitive guerilla warfare? These questions would seek answers from an uncertain future. Key observation on the recent wars and battles fought in early 21st century refer that war is neither irregular completely, nor does conventional; they are intermingled so much so that the continuality and merit of professional war efforts must not be marginalized with the propagation of asymmetric strategies. Future of warfare is branded with pivotal role of technology in this changing era. Today Air Power does not only begin the war, it also silences a war, and be it in irregular setting. The dynamism of future indicates that instead of contesting for the control of the air,

XVII it is not wondering that in future days there would a contest for the space. The fabulous weaponry, imaging sensors, and ceaseless investment of warrior nations into technological innovation of air power refers that technology will dominate in near and far future, in all fronts of irregular wars as well. Role of Air Interception is not unimportant even when the war set in an asymmetric environment; today whole world stares at the most complex battle spaces when a fighter aircraft shoots down attack aircraft in combat, the victory down at the ground fought by unconventional forces is redefined. The third dimension has manifold prospect in the future, and there cannot be an alternative to that. However, conceding to the reality of battlespace where irregular forces wish to outwit air power, in order to earn its efficacy in future warfare, air power needs to customize in the hybrid warfare environment, and to develop air power weaponry based on DEW; besides continuity of its conventional Air Campaign.

Key Words: Irregular Warfare, Air Power, Post-modern War, Drone Operations, Hybrid Threat, Directed Energy Weapon (DEW), Air Interceptions.

XVIII INFORMATION SECURITY IN DIGITAL ERA - POLICY AND STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS FOR BANGLADESH

Brigadier General Tamjidul Haque Chowdhury, ndc, afwc, psc

Introduction

“Information security may be defined as the practices of preventing unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, inspection, recording or destruction of information or data” (Legal Information Institute, 2019). Information security used to be considered as a subject of government offices up to the time Internet and associated applications attained mass penetration to the people. Meanwhile, rapid advancement in ‘Information and Communication Technologies’ (ICT) and amazing innovations in cyber domain have globalized the information security issues and have also involved individual, corporate and government offices. Such transformation has unfolded a new dimension in the history of mankind which may generally be called as ‘Digital Era’. The digital era has brought about unprecedented changes in human lifestyle. The new culture tends to engage technology in every spares of life which allows or attract people to preserve or transact personnel or organizational information through digital systems. Yet, on the contrary, it has opened up significant flaws in privacy and security domain. The subject became more concerning once prominent experts around the globe started propagating on the privacy and security breaches by various tech giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple etc. and the same being viral through print, electronic and social media platforms (Schechner, 2019). The information or data breaching incidents seem to become a common occurrence of digital era. Report reveals that data breaches exposed more than 5 billion records in 2018 (Constantin L, 2019). Such breaches are increasingly posing threat to the

1 Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications for Bangladesh information being preserved or transacted digitally. Yet the incidents are at rise. Such phenomenon indicates that the risk or threat to information security will continuously rise with the increased digitization of the society and the governance. Similarly, various social media companies, telecom operators and other digital service providers can also mine data of individuals and organizations. Furthermore, rapid advancement in hacking tools and skills seems to further increase the threat perceptions against personnel, organizations and state. Currently, Bangladesh has over nine crore Internet users. A significant portion of consumers are unaware as to the vulnerabilities of information security including how their data are being collected and exploited by various data operators at home and abroad. It is therefore imperative to conduct a detailed study on the state of information security in this digital era in order to suggest a policy guidance for Bangladesh. Unless concerned authority and leadership take timely steps, Bangladesh is likely to face significant adverse consequences.

Literature Review. A comprehensive study on the literatures pertinent to the theme of the research has been carried out. Books and publications available at various libraries and e-libraries, journals available in the internet, previously conducted research works on the subject as well as contemporary reports published in various newspapers were the main resources for review of the literature. Bangladesh has been in the top list of cyber threat in 2015. Since then there were continuous cyber-attacks recorded in Bangladesh cyberspace. Most importantly, the Bangladesh Bank heist was one of the major menace in the history of Bangladesh (Ministry of Post and Telecom, 2019). Besides, cybercrime seems to increase very fast and posing threats to national security indicating it to be a potential threat for confidential computer data and systems (Nur Nabi, 2014).

Understanding of Traditional Information Security. Traditional information security system is based on certain principles like ‘promulgation of security classification’, ‘need to know’, ‘need to hold’ ‘CIA Triad’, i.e. ‘confidentiality, integrity and availability’ etc. Generally, information

2 security is connected to the protection of classified documents. However, its reach also extends up to personnel and establishments depending on the value and sensitivity. Traditional approach would generally indicate as to who would be authorized to deal with what category of information including classification of the transmission medium.

Information Security Vs Cybersecurity. Traditionally, the term information security refers back to the manual protection measures for securing the information while the cybersecurity generally indicates the security of digital resources and mediums connected to the information. However, contemporary understanding indicates that information security includes the security of both analogue and digital information while cybersecurity deals with the protection or security of digital information and other digital systems which may not even relate to the traditional information system. Thus cybersecurity may not be considered as a subset of information security in true sense.

Figure 1: Differences between Information Security and Cybersecurity

Impact of Digitization on Information Security. The information which used to be preserved in document form or in office-based networks would only demand the security of the office or office based computer networks. But gradual transformation has globalized the information availability in individuals’ devices through online and social media platforms and thus

3 Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications for Bangladesh the implemented information security policies of the organizations were unable to ensure appropriate security of the information in cyberspace. Most importantly, due to social media proliferation, many sensitive information becomes public and spread over the public spectrum very fast. Virtually, each individual holding a smartphone with internet could become a powerful media operator, especially in crisis moment. There are uncounted online news portals being developed and circulating news all over the world and no one really seem to worry about its accuracy and reliability. Many of such information are politically motivated, contain hate speech or even spirit of violent extremism causing serious information insecurity across the society. The internet usages including use of online and social media are rising at unprecedented pace and experiencing nearly 10% growth each year. In light of the foregoing, current information security philosophy, acts, rules, policies, strategies and action plans would thus require to focus on cybersecurity to its full extent and, online and social media security through prosecuting newer strategies as coercive controlling mechanism may not really bring desired dividend.

Information Security Risk Probability. Various actors as described before are increasingly causing risks to the security of information owing to various commercial and other state sponsored purposes through all available digital platforms.

• Risk Probability from Device Manufacturers. There are wide range of perceptions and scandals about various hardware manufacturers on cyber espionage or data surveillance. For instance, the American Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) claims that Chinese spy chips were found in hardware used by Apple (Fazzini, 2018). There was also accusation of state sponsored espionage against Huawei from both USA and UK before launching their 5G mobile. The experts opine that with the technological revolution including innovation of IoT, manufacturers should be able to precisely supervise and remotely monitor the entire production chain and products thereafter even after deployment.

4 • Risk Probability from Tech Giants, Information Brokers and Other Relevant Actors. A famous German online portal named Statista claims that digital advertising market spending will increase by 17.6% and will be $333.25 billion in 2019 (Statista, 2019). Moreover, it is believed that digital data has created a lucrative market and information broker industry generates an annual revenue of $200 billion (Sadowski, 2019). It also claims that digital advertise would continue to rise in the coming years which encourages all relevant actors to continue to develop professional systems for mining users’ information and thus posing significant risks to the information security. Following graph indicates the statistics on digital advertising market spending which also clarifies the purpose of tech giants, information brokers and other relevant actors’ professional endeavour to spy on users’ data and resultant risks on information security.

Figure 2: Digital Ad Spending Worldwide 2018-2023

Source: Marketer, February 2019 (www.eMarketer.com)

The data mining ability and conduct of organized high end big data analytics on each user by tech giants, information brokers, hackers, digital service providers, mobile operators etc are now an established fact. Therefore, for business gain, various data actors possess millions of users’ data which is one of the greatest business on earth today. For instance, “Facebook uses 98 personal data points to target ads to a user (Dewey, 2016)”. Cambridge Analytica on the other hand a British information brokerage company is believed to have billions of users’ profile and already in scandal for illegally mining Facebook data to manipulate US Trump’s Election. Moreover, in doing so, the IT professionals including hackers are employed to hack confidential data from users’ device or from the system. Following figure

5 Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications for Bangladesh explains the sources of consumers’ data collected by information broker company.

Bangladesh in Information Security and Cybersecurity Indices. There is no index measuring the information security independently. However, there are four indices which would directly or indirectly aid to determine the current information security or cybersecurity landscape in Bangladesh. These are Global Cybersecurity Index, National Cybersecurity Index, ICT Development Index and Network Readiness Index. Following Figure 3 indicates the position and marks obtained by Bangladesh

Figure 3: Bangladesh Position and Marks (%) in Various Indices              *OREDO&\EHUVHFXULW\ 1DWLRQDO&\EHUVHFXULW\ ,&7'HYHORSPHQW 1HWZRUNHG5HDGLQHVV ,QGH[ ,QGH[ ,QGH[ ,QGH[

3RVLWLRQ 0DUNV  Source: Cyber Security and Relevant Indices

Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI). The ITU measures the cybersecurity standards of the member states basing on five pillars namely legal, technical, organizational, capacity building and cooperation. Bangladesh has scored .525 and ranked 78 in 2018. It ranked 15 out of 38 countries in Asia Pacific region. Figure 4 illustrates the cybersecurity situation of Bangladesh in Asia.

6 Figure 4: Cybersecurity Situation of Bangladesh 0RVW&RPPLWWHG$VLDQ&RXQWULHV /HDVW&RPPLWWHG$6LDQ&RXQWULHV

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0RVW&RPPLWWHG$VLDQ&RXQWULHV /HDVW&RPPLWWHG$VLDQ&RXQWULHV Source: Global Cybersecurity Index 2018

National Cybersecurity Index (NCSI). Bangladesh ranked 86 among 131 nations with 28.57 % marks in the NCSI, published by the UNDP and Estonia-based e-Governance Academy. It needs mentioning that Bangladesh scored 36.22% mark in 2017 and thus it has lost 7.65% mark in one year. NCSI accounts for national information and cyber security performance in 12 fields. Figure 05 displays Bangladesh position in South Asia (NCSI, 2019).

Figure 5: NCSI Index of South Asia

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%KXWDQ     Source: NCSI Report – 2018 (https://ncsi.ega.ee/ncsi-index/)

7 Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications for Bangladesh

Analysis on Cyber Security Indices and National Information Security Landscape. The national information security landscaping largely depends on the cybersecurity dynamics of the nation. Both GCI and NCSI identifies specific fields to examine the cybersecurity landscaping of the nation. Figure 06 displays the broad fields considered for GCI and NCSI including marks scored by Bangladesh:

Figure 6: Fields Considered for GCI and NCSI and Marks Scored by Bangladesh

Source: GCI & NCSI Report

Cybersecurity Incidents in Bangladesh Including Classification. Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) on the other hand also maintain cyber incidents those take place within the country. The details cyber incident statistics including incident classifications are shown below for understanding the risk landscape inside the country in Figure 07.

Figure 7: Cyber Incidents in Bangladesh 2016-2019

              Source: Bangladesh Computer Council

8 Figure 8: Cyber Incident Classification 2WKHUV  9XOQHUDELOW\  $EXVLYH&RQWHQW  $YDLODELOLW\  ,QWUXVLRQ$WWHPSWV  ,QWUXVLRQV  ,QFLGHQW&ODVVLILFDWLRQ 0DOLFLRXV&RGH  ,QIRUPDWLRQ6HFXULW\  )UDXG  ,QIRUPDWLRQ*DWKHULQJ         Source: Bangladesh Computer Council

Challenges of Information Security in Bangladesh

• Absence of Secure Voice and Data Network. Currently, there are 04 mobile operators out of which one belongs to a government owned limited company. Almost all the government offices have to depend on private transmission companies for networking and other data related services. Under this situation, both voice and data communication seems to extremely insecure and there are number of instances where voices have been leaked causing embarrassment for the government.

• Vulnerability of Digital Device. Smart phones are susceptible to any kind of security comprise because of the wide range of applications installed in the smart phones along with heterogeneous data transactions from known and unknown sources. This phenomenon makes it very easy to launch malware attack on smart phones and thus steal data including monitoring of live calls.

• Proliferation of Internet and Connected End Devices. Culturally, people tend to remain connected and thus classified information remains accessible through Internet. Moreover, people with the mobile telephone can anytime take a snap of any document irrespective of

9 Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications for Bangladesh

the level of confidentiality it has and can transfer to any undesired recipient.

• Innovative Technology, Technical Incompetency and Outdated Documents Handling System. Generally, system is designed, installed and commissioned by competent technical administrator. The problem begins with its operation and maintenance where outdated policies on information security cannot be implemented and at times security standards are also compromised to simplify the operation.

• Commercial Use of Big Data and Digital Advertising. All digital marketing companies buy individual profile from those who have got big data. Facebook and Google are the two tech giants who have got maximum data. Locally, mobile operators and some of the private entrepreneurs have the big data facilities. Besides, data of Uber, Pathao, BKash etc are also being used for digital marketing. Figure 09 explains the type of data being collected by various actors on individuals.

Figure 9: Data Collected by Google, Facebook and Mobile Operators

Source: Google & Facebook Privacy Policy and Interview with Mobile Operators

• Rise of Hackers and Proliferation of Cybercrime. The unnamed and casual underage hackers and spammers are continuously rising who collect confidential official and private information from various systems including users’ device. It is believed that some of the hacker groups have databases of millions of users hacked from various mobile

10 operators and other digital service providers like BKash and Pathao.

• Tech Giants’ Access to Device and Connected Intelligence Agency. As explained before, tech giants like Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon etc have significant penetration to the people. Currently, there are 98.136 Million Internet Users and 33.99 Million Facebook users in Bangladesh (Napoleoncat.com. 2019). Thus these tech giants have technical access to the device of almost 98 Million people of the country.

• Lack of Awareness and Digital Security Culture at Institutional Level. A majority of the users think that loss of security in the digital environment may not harm him and thereby additional efforts to ensure security is unnecessary. It is only the victim who understands the requirement of data security after the damage is done. It seems to be a very critical task to ensure information security of the country once the citizens are not concern or not aware to do so.

Policy/ Strategic Implications for Bangladesh

Policy/ Strategic Vision. The information security strategic vision seeks to support country’s journey in becoming a developed nation by 2041 where people would be guaranteed of a technology based safe, secure, reliable and prosperous environment. In doing so, it would aim to deliver a seamless state of the art policy and strategic guidance for the concerned ministry and government departments on information assurance and information security. The vision statement would be “Develop Digitally Connected Safe, Secure and Reliable Sonar Bangla by 2030”.

Policy/ Strategic Objectives. Following objectives would aid Bangladesh in maintaining its national interest and national security and thereby support the progression towards being a developed country by 2041:

11 Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications for Bangladesh

• Legal and policy measures. • Establishing data regulatory commission. • Capacity building through effective and structured education, training and awareness program. • Secure critical infrastructure, standards and best practices. • Promote IT industry and establish nation owned search engine and social media platform. • Secure voice and data network. • Culture of spending for security. • Protection of human rights and freedom of speech. • Effective coordination and cooperation measures.

Legal and Policy Measures. There should be specific government regulations for the tech giants like Facebook, Google and other social media platform in order to prevent malicious contents those trigger internal instability like fake news, hate speech extremism etc. The law should enable concerned government departments with appropriate regulatory authority and required technological capabilities to maintain a safe, secure and reliable cyberspace within the country.

Establishing Data Regulatory Commission. Currently BTRC is the only regulatory commission which looks after both voice and data. However, there has to be a dedicated regulatory body to cope with the unprecedented speed of technological growth. Accordingly, a separate and independent data regulatory commission named ‘Bangladesh Data Regulatory Commission’ (BDRC) may be established to handle all issues related to the provisioning, operation, security and development of data and associated future technologies. It would promulgate laws and policies and ensure that all public and private departments secure their infrastructure and systems from all types of malicious attacks and unauthorized access. Accordingly, it would plan and delineate designs and authorization of CERT for various public and private organizations. The

12 central CERT would also be coordinated by this commission. It would be responsible for coordination with the tech giants and establish local servers to enable national control on the malicious content and events leading to information insecurity.

Capacity Building and Awareness Program

• Model of Education and Training. Conceptually information and cybersecurity education should be for all and to be included in the general syllabus of primary schools as children are exposed to smart phones/ computers and this trend is in a constant growth. Subject education should be imparted at all stages up to completion of higher secondary school. There should be Honours and Master’s degree program on cybersecurity in all public and private universities. Besides, poly technique and vocational institutions should conduct diploma program on this subject.

• Areas of Training. The capacity building process should focus three different areas. Firstly, it should develop a host of software programmer who would be able to support the need of various applications in all relevant programming languages. It should include desktop, laptop, mobile and web applications. The second category should be trained on network design, operation, maintenance and security while the third group should be trained on various defensive and offensive hacking skills.

• Formulation of Cyber Force. There are number of hackers and spammers groups prevailing in the country who with own initiatives educated themselves and assist cybercrime victims with varying degree of remuneration. But experiences indicate that these hackers and spammers have good skills and talents. Thus, as part of an opportunity, these groups can be talent spotted after necessary verification for specialized training with a view to develop a cyber-force.

13 Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications for Bangladesh

• Dominating Social Media to Avert Misinformation. An efficient coordination mechanism with the concerned social media corporate is essential in order to get quick assistance to remove the post and to identify the perpetrators. Any corporate can become a media partner with Facebook which involve a handsome amount of money and also need a rich blue verified Facebook page with minimum one million followers. So, a third party may be involved to become a Facebook media partner which will have additional authority to remove post from the Facebook as and when required.

• Awareness Program. The cybersecurity indices also indicate that Bangladesh need to develop in this area significantly. Thus, a long continuous and substantial awareness programs are to be planned by concerned government departments comprising government, and non-government, corporates and private operators. The awareness program should primarily focus on secure online behaviour by the users. The program may commence with the educational institutions and continue to various public and private offices in phases.

Secure Critical Infrastructure, Standards and Best Practices

• Establishment of CERT. Attainment of the foregoing policy/ strategic objective would entail formulation of national/ sectoral CERT, cybersecurity standards implementation framework for organizations, standardization body, technical mechanisms and capabilities deployed to address spam, use of cloud for cybersecurity purpose, child online protection mechanisms etc. Till now only one CERT has been established under BCC and another in Bangladesh Bank is in the process which is yet to give measurable dividend. Considering the trends of cyber-attacks in the financial institution, all banks and important financial institutions must have own CERT connected to the central CERT. Besides, other key point installation

14 like national data centre and others those planned for government departments must have CERT.

• Data Analytics. All critical IT infrastructure must have data analytics to detect, prevent or mitigate attacks from external sources. All the concerned departments should have adequate skilled personnel to trace the originator IP from where attack has been launched. The data analytics should also be capable enough to identify the proxy or ‘Virtual Private Network’ (VPN). Moreover, there should be an established coordination mechanism and reporting channel for all public and private departments to report incidents to central CERT for assistance.

• Intrusion Detection System (IDS) and Intrusion Protection System (IPS). It should be made mandatory to install network IDS and IPS in all vulnerable government infrastructures. These artificially intelligent detection bots will be able to detect anomalies which occurs after an intrusion. Moreover, a committee led by proposed BDRC with members from NTMC, intelligence and law enforcing agencies should periodically visit the big data analytics systems of mobile operators and other online/ digital service providers’ systems to prevent data leakage of the users.

• Block Chain Implementation for Critical Cyber Infrastructure. Implementation of Block chain in critical cyber infrastructures would ensure defence against cyber-attacks. Block chain being a distributed network makes it much more difficult for cyber-attacks to take place since the network is publicly visible and is witnessed by everyone. Thus, making a network almost impossible to be hacked by cyber attackers.

• Standards and Best Practices. The proposed BDRC or concerned ministry should circulate the desired standard for all public IT infrastructure in order to ensure security aspects. The regulatory commission must be able develop a system so as to inspect the critical IT infrastructure periodically through professional outfit in order to

15 Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications for Bangladesh

ensure security and prevent undesired cyberattacks, data breaches and information insecurity.

Promote IT Industry and Establish Nation Owned Search Engine and Social Media Platform

• Promote IT Industry. Various unlicensed software and applications are one of the major sources of information insecurity. Generally, a backdoor is kept open to intrude to the computer/ device once the cracked version of the software is used. Thus, probability of being hacked is very high once unlicensed foreign software is used. Under such circumstances, certified home-grown software on being tested by professional tester can be a good solution to prevent undesired compromise of the devices/ systems.

• Establish Nation Owned Search Engine and Social Media Platform. China replaced Google and Facebook by Baidu and We Chat respectively. Similarly, Bangladesh needs to develop systems to reduce dependency on Google and Facebook or on other social media. Apparently, it seems to be a complicated task and thus a degree of enforcement would be required for implementation.

Secure Voice and Data Network

• Secure Data Network. Currently, data network within the government offices does not have any secured protection and remain vulnerable to any kind of attacks by the hackers or from other sources. The data networks can be secured by adding encryption equipment for each of the cluster or location. The number of data encryption equipment would be depending on the bandwidth handling capability.

• Secure Mobile Network. As mentioned before, existing mobile network seriously lacks security and there is modern equipment through

16 which any mobile conversation can be intercepted from even a vehicle. Thus, encrypted voice communication for government officials are essential. Subject network needs to be deliberately designed to support all government establishments. Initial study reveals that a thin network across the country covering the office areas can be established by latest 4G/ 5G equipment. Thereafter, nationwide coverage can be attained through a technology called “Mobile Virtual Network Operator” (MVNO).

• Securing the Digital Device. There should be technical systems to secure the smartphones through both software and hardware. Once the phone is secured through the software then it is called hardening of the phone which prevents malware or other exploits to manipulate the phone data. There is even better solution to secure the smartphones by installing hardware. Generally, a ‘Secure Digital’ (SD) card is installed in the phone which uses the data for communication and thereby it bypasses the typical mobile communication through SIM card or mobile operator.

Culture of Spending for Security. All government departments should be instructed for using licensed software and accordingly concerned ministry should ensure the budget allocation. The proposed BDRC should also develop policies to ensure a minimum percentage of spending for cybersecurity in order to develop a culture of spending in the security head.

Recommendations

In light of the above study and proposed policy and strategic guidance, following are recommended:

• A committee may be convened by ICT Division to analyse the feasibility of the policy guidance suggested in this paper.

17 Information Security in Digital Era - Policy and Strategic Implications for Bangladesh

• Ministry of post and Telecommunication to work out modalities to establish a separate data regularly commission. • ICT Division may be coordinated for immediate implementation of the Digital Security Agency. • ICT Division to launch a deliberate awareness campaign in coordination with education ministry. • Ministry of Education may work out details on information security education and training system in Bangladesh. • AFD may convene a committee to analyse the feasibility of establishing a separate secure voice and data network for military and all government officials

Conclusion

Information security has been defined as the set of security measures that prevent unauthorized access and also allow freedom of action to maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information. The policies and strategies on information security could still be managed through addition and modifications. But the first moving change in the digital transformation gradually pulled the information domain in to a new area called cyberspace. Initially, information security and cybersecurity used to be differentiated through the scale of analogue and digital systems where information security were considered as the subject dealing with both analogue and digital information while the latter dealing with only the digital information. But sooner the idea got changed while other subset of cyberspace came into being which cannot really be dealt under the domain of information security. Bangladesh need to develop an independent and dedicated voice and data networks system for all government offices. Military may be given responsibility to undertake the assignment to establish nationwide secure transmission backbone along with encrypted voice and data network through 4G/ 5G equipment. Such project may

18 be implemented in phases and gradually all government offices including paramilitary forces can be brought under the same security umbrella. The technological development is a continuous process and a considerable amount of fund would be essential for delivery of quality services. The concerned government offices should develop a comprehensive budgetary framework to ensure seamless implementation of the proposed policy once finalized. Of significance to note that technological development and fighting against cyber threats cannot be made alone. Mechanism should be in place to ensure constant bi-lateral and multilateral engagements with the friendly nations in addition to the internal coordination architecture.

References

1. Bányász, (September 2014), “Spies Act as a Spy: The Edward Snowden Case”, National University of Public Service 2. Bertot, J., Jaeger, P. and Hansen, D. (2012). The impact of polices on government social media usage: Issues, challenges, and recommendations. 3. Black, P., Scarfone, K. and Souppaya, M. (2008). Cyber Security Metrics and Measures. Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security. 4. Btrc.gov.bd. (2019). Internet Subscribers in Bangladesh February, 2019. | BTRC. [online] Available at: http://www.btrc.gov.bd/content/ internet-subscribers-bangladesh-february-2019 [Accessed 10 Sep. 2019]. 5. Burrough, B.; Ellison, S; Suzanna A. (2014). ‘The Snowden Saga: A Shadowland of Secrets and Light’. Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 29, 2016 6. Castells, M. (1996). The Information Age. Oxford: Blackwell. 7. Cunningham, A. (2016). Privacy and Security in the Digital Age. New York, NY: Greenhaven Publishing LLC.

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8. Davis, J. (2017). 10 biggest weaknesses and lessons learned from cybersecurity in 2016. [online] Healthcare IT News. Available at: https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/10-biggest-weaknesses- and-lessons-learned-cybersecurity-2016 [Accessed 14 May 2019].

9. Digital Content Next. (2018). Google data collection research - Digital Content Next. [online] Available at: https://digitalcontentnext.org/ blog/2018/08/21/google-data-collection-research/ [Accessed 10 Sep. 2019].

10. Dixon, P. (2019). Congressional Testimony: What Information Do Data Brokers Have on Consumers? | World Privacy Forum. [online] Worldprivacyforum.org. Available at: https://www.worldprivacyforum. org/2013/12/testimony-what-information-do-data-brokers-have-on- consumers/ [Accessed 9 Sep. 2019].

11. Etzioni, A. (2016). Reining in Private Agents. Minn. L. Rev. Headnotes, 101, p.279.

12. Goldman, E. (2004). National Security in the Information Age. London: Routledge.

13. Govindarajan, M. (2019). Challenges for Big Data Security and Privacy. In: M. Khosrow-Pour, ed., Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in Network Architecture, Mobile Computing, and Data Analytics.

14. Graham, C. (2018). I’m really sorry’: Mark Zuckerberg has been apologising for privacy lapses since before Facebook even began. The Telegraph. [online] Available at: https://www.telegraph. co.uk/technology/2018/03/22/really-sorry-mark-zuckerberg-has- apologising-privacy-lapses/ [Accessed 14 Sep. 2019].

15. Guerrier, C. (2016). Security and privacy in the digital era. Wiley.

16. Khillar, S. (n.d.). Difference Between Cyber Security and Information Security | Difference Between. [online] Differencebetween.net. Available at: http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/

20 difference-between-cyber-security-and-information-security/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2019].

17. Kilaz, Ilker, et al. (2014), ‘Manpower Planning and Management in Cyber Defence’, European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, Academic Conferences International Limited, p. 116.

18. Klaić, A. (2010). Overview of the state and trends in the contemporary information security policy and information security management methodologies. In The 33rd International Convention MIPRO (pp. 1203-1208). IEEE.

19. Milenkovic, M. (2019). The 45 Most Important Advertising Statistics of 2019. [online] SmallBizGenius. Available at: https://www. smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/advertising-statistics/ [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].

20. Nur Nabi, M. and Islam, M. (2014). Cyber Security In The Globalized World: Challenges For Bangladesh. In: Economic and Social Development, 7th International Scientific Conference. New York.

21. Peak, K. (2014). Data brokers and information resellers. New York: Nova Science Publisher.

22. Pradhan, A. (2016). Understanding difference between Cyber Security & Information Security - CISO Platform. [online] Cisoplatform. com. Available at: https://www.cisoplatform.com/profiles/blogs/ understanding-difference-between-cyber-security-information [Accessed 4 Oct. 2019].

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25. Sidra Azmat Butt, “Facebook Cambridge Analytica Scandal”

26. Sloan, R. and Warner, R. (n.d.). Unauthorized Access: The Crisis in Online Privacy and Security. Florida: CRC Press.

27. Tranquillus, C. (2008). Lives of the caesars (Oxford World’s Classics). [Place of publication not identified]: New York: Oxford University Press.

Author

Brigadier General Tamjidul Haque Chowdhury, ndc, afwc, psc was commissioned on 21 June 1991 in the Corps of Signals. He held various Command and Staff appointment in his career. He commanded a Division Signal Battalion, Field Intelligence Unit and various sub-units at different levels of command. He served as Grade 2 Operational Staff Officer in an Infantry Division Headquarters, as Grade 1 Staff Officer in Staff Duties Directorate, Signals Directorate and as Colonel Staff in Military Training Directorate of Army Headquarters. Prior to join NDC, he was also appointed as Director of Signal Intelligence Bureau in Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI). He was Instructor Class B at School of Military Intelligence. Brigadier General Tamjid is a graduate of Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur and obtained his Masters in Defence Studies from National University, Bangladesh. He is also a graduate of Armed Forces War Course (afwc) from National Defence College (NDC). He has participated in three UN Missions (UNAMSIL, UNAMID, and MINUSCA); once as Sector Support Platoon Commander in UAMSIL (Sierra Leone), then as Senior Staff Officer, Information/ Chief J2 in Force Headquarters UNAMID (Darfur) and finally, as Deputy Sector Commander in MINUSCA (Central African Republic).

22 SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF ROHINGYA REFUGEE CRISIS: CHALLENGES ON NATIONAL SECURITY OF BANGLADESH

Brigadier General Abu Hena Mohammad Sadrul Alam, ndc, psc

Introduction

Myanmar (formerly Burma) is one of the two neighbours of Bangladesh that shares 271 Kilometers of borders. Both the countries have a long history of sharing socio-cultural and economic affairs. Myanmar was one of the first countries to recognize Bangladesh in January 1972. Myanmar got independence from the British in 1948 and began as democratic country. Rohingyas were ethnic Muslims who were living in the Rakhine State of Arakan since 8th century. But they supported the Colonial British against the Buddhist who were pro-Japanese. After independence the then Government (with Buddhist majority) denied citizenship to the Rohingya Muslims allegedly for their roles during pre-independence of Myanmar. Their citizenship was further denied through 1961 military Government and through Citizenship Law of 1982 where they were excluded from 135 ethnic groups of Myanmar. This denial continued with persecution in different times and Myanmar Government generally addressed them as fleeing Bengalis from Bangladesh.

Myanmar did not accept the term “Rohingya” as it is not included in any of their tribes. However, Rohingya is being used very widely and is accepted worldwide. Bangladesh received first wave of about 250,000 Rohingyas in 1978, thereafter in 1989, 1995 and in 2002. All those times, most of them were repatriated following extensive bilateral and international diplomatic efforts through UN and other global agencies. However, a leftover group of Rohingyas remained within Bangladesh in disguise and as registered

23 Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh refugees. But, following an attack on a security post in Rakhine, the security forces of Myanmar retaliated and carried out devastating persecution to entire Rohingya community which led driving out huge influx of more than 742,000 Rohingyas into Ukhia, Teknaf and Cox’s Bazaar areas of Bangladesh. The total Rohingya population including those previously living became about 1.1 Million. The recent influx after 25 August 2017 became one of the largest stateless entities in the world. They are living in make- shift camps in most inhumane and marginalized condition. Bangladesh not being a signatory to 1951 Refugee Convention could not ensure all legitimate rights to Rohingya refugees. But Government of Bangladesh along with 139 NGOs, International NGOs, UN and other international organizations and agencies has been providing basic human needs like Food, Shelter, Water, Hygiene and limited employment to these 1.1 Million refugees for more than two years now. The effort of Government of Bangladesh has been outstandingly praised by all international leaders as an exemplary humanitarian gesture.

Rohingyas were initially welcomed by the locals living in Ukhia, Teknaf and Cox’s Bazaar. But, soon after realizing that, presence of Rohingyas were twice the population of the locals affected lifestyle and living, encroachment of huge forest, social harmony, economic balance and demographic structure of the area. Rohingyas got involved in earning livelihood efforts and undertook employments in much lower wages. They were also involved in robbery, theft, drug trafficking, arms and human trafficking and in all other law and order violations. They remained vulnerable to local and international crime, radicalization and extremism. The socio-economic burden and its impacts gradually became greater challenges for the developing country like Bangladesh. Despite bilateral treaties for repatriation two attempts failed due to cool response from Myanmar on the demands of Rohingyas. The long term impacts of socio-economic scenarios started connecting to numerous challenges for Bangladesh including posing a considerable challenge on the national security of Bangladesh. Government of Bangladesh, therefore, need to focus on two main issues coherently; first, to continue her diplomatic 24 efforts at all levels to resolve the crisis for good and secondly, to mitigate and offset the security challenges on her national security.

Review of Literature

Available literatures reveal couple of researches on Rohingya refugee issue focusing origin, historical perspectives and resolution aspects of the crisis. There were also several literatures on the plight and statelessness, relationship between Bangladesh and Myanmar and implications of the crisis on the region. However, only few researches were relevantly focused on security implications emanating from the crisis. Few of the important and relevant literatures were consulted for the research.

Rahman (2010) highlighted security dilemmas for Bangladesh as a host nation. Bangladesh finds itself in a fix trying to fulfill the national interest of the country amid conceiving insecurity from the prolonged stay of Rohingya refugees. Similarly, implications on regional security was studied by Sarwar (2017) and he highlighted that, the Rohingya refugee crisis poses full spectrum of threats and challenges to Bangladesh ranging from human or Non Traditional Security (NTS), transnational security, internal security, militancy, terrorism and border security. On the regional perspective the crisis poses insecurity issue like human trafficking, illegal arms and drug trafficking, human crisis, renewed radicalization and insurgency. Al Kabir (2017) identified that, countries hosting refugees are always concurred about security. Developing countries which host refugees for long time usually experience economic, social, political and environmental impacts. Protracted presence of huge number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh has created heavy burden on the economy and scant resources of Bangladesh. In highlighting security threats emanating from Rohingya refugees, Al Kabir had only outlined the crisis as a NTS threat. Social security, economic security, political security, change in demography, deforestation, arms and drug trafficking are major NTS threats being generated by the Rohingya refugees. In the UN led Advisory

25 Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh

Commission Report on the Rakhine State towards a peaceful solution to the crisis; head of the Commission former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (2017) suggested that, Rakhine represents primarily a development crisis then a human rights crisis and finally a security crisis. In the dialogue paper, “Implications of the Rohingya crisis for Bangladesh”, conducted by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) (2017) it was highlighted that, Rohingya refugees crisis has given rise to multi-dimensional problem for Bangladesh. The paper outlined that, out of several challenges, Bangladesh will face mainly economic, social and environmental challenges from the crisis.

Most of these studies focused on overall perspectives of Rohingya refugee issue in general without specific focus on the recent crisis after August 2017. As such, a wide area of research remained to study the socio- economic impacts of the crisis and associated challenges on the national security of Bangladesh in particular. This research included initial chapters on the nature and genesis of the crisis but focused mostly on data and information to highlight the issues after August 2017.

Methodology

Conceptual Framework

The research was carried out following a conceptual framework to establish relationship between independent variable which was ‘Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh’ and dependent variables like ‘Socio- economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis’. Influences of impacts have indicated the related challenges on the national security of Bangladesh and ultimately brought out the research outcome as shown below:

26 Impact of Rohingya Refugees Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh

Research Hypothesis

The research was undertaken on the Hypothesis that, socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis are likely to pose a considerable threat to the national security of Bangladesh.

Research Objectives

The broad objective of the research was to verify that, socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis challenge national security of Bangladesh. The Specific Objectives were as follows:

• To determine the socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis.

27 Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh

• To examine how socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis challenge national security of Bangladesh.

• To find out the prospective efforts Bangladesh should undertake to offset security challenges.

Research Method

The research was non-exploratory, descriptive and cross-sectional in nature. This research was based upon both primary and secondary data. Primary data included data and information from the sources and organizations directly managing the crisis. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources including from personal communication, the internet and from the esteemed newspapers and journals. Analysis of data and information were based upon relevant available literatures, previously undertaken researches, books, journals, newspapers and government and non-government records to rationalize understanding about the socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis challenging national security elements of Bangladesh.

Results and Discussions Socio-economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis

Most of the socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis were brought out in the research from the data and information collected. This was relevant requirement of the first important specific objective. The impacts can be summarized as below:

• Change of Demographic Pattern • Loss of Labour Market, Price hike and Higher Living Cost • Sustained Instability in Local Law and Order in some of the following forms:

28 • Communal Violence • Cross Marriage between Bangladeshis and Rohingyas • Prostitution and Sexual Violence • Illegal Possession of Bangladesh SIM Cards by Rohingyas • Arms, Drug and Human Trafficking • Economic Burden for Health, Education and Sanitation Management • Deforestation • Loss of Cultivable Land and Occupations of the Locals • Adverse Effect on Tourism

Challenges of Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis on National Security of Bangladesh

The Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Mr Shahidul Huq expressed his concerns on Rohingya crisis as “It was basically a humanitarian movement, subsequently it became a border issue and it might become a security issue (The Daily Star, 2017)”. National security greatly concerns traditional security and NTS perspectives. At this point of the research it was found that, the impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis very pertinently focus and connect some traditional and some NTS threats for Bangladesh. This chapter, therefore, found out the answer of second research objective. The findings on challenges on national security are summarized below:

• Challenges on Traditional Security of Bangladesh. The traditional security concerns the sovereignty and territorial integrity in the first place. Although, many corners including international organizations, NGOs and UN agencies wanted to brand the Rohingya issue as only a social or humanitarian crisis but Bangladesh as a sovereign, prosperous and developing country needs to take account of the socio-economic impacts of the crisis with importance and perceive the following possible challenges on traditional security proactively:

29 Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh

▪▪ Threat to Territorial Integrity. ▪▪ Border Violation (pushing in Rohingyas across international boundaries). ▪▪ Situation Near to Deployment of Conventional Force. ▪▪ Management of New Diplomatic Challenge (with China, India and Russia).

• Challenges to NTS of Bangladesh. NTS threats involve non-state actors and their behaviour challenging survival and wellbeing of the state, its people and resources. NTS originates from mostly non- military sources. The socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis challenge the NTS of Bangladesh in the long and short terms. Some of those challenges found are summarized below:

• Challenges on Social Security of Bangladesh

▪▪ Communal Violence. ▪▪ Loss of Local Labour Market. ▪▪ Change of Demographic Pattern and Perception (Rohingyas outnumbering locals, Cross marriages, Higher Birth Rates etc). ▪▪ Social Instability and Degradation of Law and Order Situation (Rohingyas involvement in Crimes). ▪▪ Degradation of Social Harmony (Prostitution and Sexual Violence).

• Challenges on Economic Security of Bangladesh

▪▪ Huge Economic Implication on Government of Bangladesh for Maintenance of Rohingyas for a long time. ▪▪ Risk of High Affects on Tourism in the Long Term. ▪▪ Loss of Cultivable Lands and Change of Occupation of the Locals.

• Challenges on Socio-economic Security of Bangladesh

▪▪ Illegal Trafficking of Arms, Drugs and Human. ▪▪ Food Insecurity, Malnutrition and Health Insecurity.

30 ▪▪ Joblessness, Price hike and Higher Living Cost. ▪▪ Deforestation leading to Serious Environmental Degradation. ▪▪ Increased Risk of Radicalization, Militancy, Extremism and Terrorism.

Socio-economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis Challenging National Power Instruments of Bangladesh

The Rohingya exodus connected some traditional and NTS threats for Bangladesh affecting the entire gamut of the national security. In this research through a brief study it was also found that, the impacts of socio-economic aspects of Rohingya refugee crisis also put a considerable challenge on the most known national power elements; The Diplomatic, Informational, Military and Economic (DIME). A summarized form of challenges on DIME was as follows:

• Challenges on the Diplomatic Instrument. Most of the elements of diplomatic instruments like the efforts of embassies, negotiation, policies and treaties have encountered a formidable challenge with Myanmar just due to the Rohingya crisis. Diplomatic strength of Bangladesh had successfully proved a positive image very rapidly within few years of her independence. Bangladesh had never undergone such magnitude of diplomatic challenge any time after independence with any issues so far. On the other hand, diplomatic strength of Myanmar could draw credible sympathizers if not on political or diplomatic issues, but on economic issue and economic relationship. Due to extreme realism of economic perspective Bangladesh diplomacy is yet to derive dividends from age old powerful allies like China, India and Russia.

31 Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh

Challenges on the Informational Instrument. Socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis have seriously impeded the informational element of national power of Bangladesh in several ways. It can be argued that, informational element of Bangladesh may have suffered a failure in understanding the impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis in the first place where understanding the strategic consequences and the impacts of crisis were missing. Otherwise Myanmar had used their informational element quite brilliantly by exploiting information about Rohingya population of their country through active propaganda and spreading of message internally at home and externally to the world forcing the Rohingyas at bay. The brunt of socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis is being undertaken by Bangladesh where it was never a problem of Bangladesh.

Challenges on the Military Instrument. Bangladesh always perceived relatively less threat or no threat at all from Myanmar over decades. Military growth and allied complements were not at all developed to deal with potential threat from Myanmar. Provocative acts like border violations, air space violations and occupation of considerable lands by the Rohingya as camps inside Bangladesh were keeping a source of any possible pressure by Myanmar on the military instrument of Bangladesh.

Challenge on the Economic Instrument. Socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis has put in mammoth challenges on the economic instrument of national power of Bangladesh in many ways. Bangladesh is a graduating country from the least developed countries to developing country recently and its economic growth index is all positive with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of about 8.1% at the moment. The economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis have put a big challenge on economic development process, growth rate of GDP and have put serious economic pressure on the regular maintenance of the Rohingya population. With the passage of time pressure would increase and make the threat more challenging and dangerous.

32 Imperatives for Bangladesh to Offset Security Challenges

This part of research dealt with imperatives ahead for Bangladesh in reducing security challenges, but offsetting the challenges would demand resolution of the crisis. Bangladesh undertook the diplomatic line of operations towards reaching a sustainable solution to the crisis that was successful and was overwhelmingly praised worldwide except by very few regional and international powers. Bilateral efforts between Bangladesh and Myanmar remained one sided when Myanmar did show up only theoretically. This part addressed the third objective of the research on the levels of efforts Bangladesh should undertake to reduce the challenges over national security. Some of the salient points are described in brief below:

• Bold and Renewed Bilateral and Regional Diplomacy

▪▪ Bangladesh needs to explore opportunity to improve bilateral relationship and trust with Myanmar to change her mindset and come forward within international orders.

▪▪ Dhaka needs to engage more with China, India and Russia and try to influence governments to reconsider their position.

▪▪ Bangladesh may look for a window in the ASEAN to seek the resolution of the crisis.

▪▪ Bangladesh may raise the issue in the regional forums like SAARC, BIMSTEC, BCIM and similar platforms seeking resolve of the crisis.

▪▪ Bangladesh needs to introduce Track 2 diplomacy seeking assistance from the people in contact between Bangladesh, Myanmar and the region.

33 Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh

• Transformed and Stronger International Diplomatic Drive

▪▪ Bangladesh needs to continue vibrant and proactive diplomacy encompassing multilateral approaches taking key players like China, USA, Russia, India, EU and OIC with her to resolve the crisis. ▪▪ Bangladesh needs to emphasize the crisis so that, UN considers the crisis beyond humanitarian issue and UN Security Council plays a role to in shaping ideas and thoughts of Myanmar. ▪▪ Bangladesh needs to emphasize the Rakhine Commission report for full implementation and needs to foster five points proposal of her Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for implementation for sustained solution of the problem. ▪▪ Bangladesh needs to develop strong media exposure of the Rohingya crisis using number of means and systems worldwide. ▪▪ Bangladesh may propose through UN and international agencies for arranging a third country repatriation and rehabilitation of the Rohingya refugees.

• Mitigation of Security Threats

▪▪ The Rohingyas may be monitored about their system movements. ▪▪ Law enforcing agencies may establish ‘zero error’ for communal crimes, drug, arms and human trafficking. ▪▪ Enhanced vigilance is necessary in identifying any radicalism or extremism or terrorist activities among the Rohingya community. ▪▪ Improvement of camp management system may be ensured by introducing voluntary services from young members of the Rohingyas. ▪▪ Endorsing and educating Family Planning Programme in the camp with the help of appropriate NGOs is necessary.

34 Recommendations

Rohingya refugee crisis is an ongoing subject and is getting dynamic each day. The recent updates on the issue also show that more time and efforts are on the way to resolve the crisis with participation of bilateral and multi lateral engagements from different actors. In view of the discussions made on the socio-economic aspects and their impacts on national security of Bangladesh, following recommendations are made for offsetting the challenges and mitigation of the crisis:

• Bangladesh should continue its diplomatic efforts at the bilateral and international forums by raising the issue with strong voice along with its diplomatic partners and friendship with superpowers. • Bangladesh should draw support of Russia, China and India in particular by diplomatic means highlighting economic and geo-strategic importance of Bangladesh. • Bangladesh should pursue international community through UN for a rational 3rd country repatriation of the Rohingyas. • Bangladesh should emphasize in all the international forums about implementation of recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. • Bangladesh should pursue to implement five points declaration by her Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the resolution of the crisis. • Bangladesh should monitor the activities of the INGOs, NGOs and different humanitarian agencies. • Bangladesh may retain the military strength ready as a deterrence only beside other related efforts. • Bangladesh should close the border and keep Border Guards Bangladesh ready to monitor the border for illegal entry or exits to curb trafficking issues.

35 Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh

• Bangladesh should keep high state of readiness and surveillance to check any Myanmar armed groups joining with Rohingyas in Bangladesh or vice versa.

• Bangladesh should continue to maintain the Rohingyas with tightened security arrangements and support them with humanitarian and socio- economic needs.

• Bangladesh should continue to pursue to receive international aid for the maintenance of the Rohingyas till the crisis is resolved.

Conclusion

Rohingya refugee crisis after August 2017 took a devastating shape as excessive mass of severely persecuted people fled into Bangladesh. Though the issue was decades old, but it could not draw adequate international attention over time. Historical evidences prevailed in support of their citizenship rights in Myanmar, but they rather lost their legitimacy in own motherland gradually. Government of Bangladesh set up Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission to coordinate all humanitarian operations of all organizations and agencies. Two bilateral repatriation attempts failed due to cold response and preparations of Myanmar. There is a serious upset in the demographic situation in the area where locals are just half of the Rohingyas. 36 % of them are aged between 5 to 17 years and 42 % are able adults. They live at margins and therefore always remain vulnerable to any provocation to violence, radicalization, terrorism and fundamentalism. They are easy to be imbedded into insurgency or illegal trafficking issues. The other challenge emanates from 36% of them being young children who are acutely vulnerable to drug abuse, drug or arms trafficking, terrorism, fundamentalism or radicalism. They would continue to grow adult over time and get into miserable frustrations about life.

The socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis are putting up numerous challenges on daily life, society and economic aspects. The

36 local people were in welcoming gesture initially but over time the refugees started putting excessive pressure on their living and indulged into quarrels. There has been a serious degradation of social structure in the area and communal harmony has been destroyed. The local people themselves were not forming a well of part of society by themselves. Similarly there has been a huge economic pressure to maintain the refugees over prolonged period. They are interrupting the stability of the society as well as most of them are economic liability. There is an estimation of an approximate need of USD 920.5 million (approximately Taka 7824 Crore) for meeting the routine needs of the Rohingyas in 2019.

The instability and violence in the Rakhine state, specially activities of terror groups with linkage with Rohingya group would pose a threat to Bangladesh border security. The instability at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border would give rise to the non-state actors that can jeopardize the internal security also to a great extent. Challenges to social harmony, economic development, law and order situations, environment and health and hygiene are the few of the significant challenges on the NTS. Socio- economic impacts of the crisis are now putting up growing concerns challenging the national power and national security of Bangladesh. Rohingya refugee issue and its socio-economic impacts have challenged the diplomatic power and diplomatic relationship between Bangladesh and Myanmar to a great extent. The diplomatic power of Bangladesh has enormous success in staging the Rohingya crisis to UN general Assembly, UN Security Council, ICC, ICJ, OIC and ASEAN. Diplomatic efforts of Bangladesh could successfully draw the attention of USA, UK, France, KSA, Turkey and other international organizations where all of them were extremely forthcoming to support Bangladesh in resolving the issue.

The research looked at the insight of the crisis and could meet the objectives fully. The research also brought out comprehensive answers to the research questions in the relevant chapters following elaborate discussions. The hypothesis was firmly established in the way that, the socio-economic impacts of Rohingya refugee crisis pose considerable challenges on the

37 Socio-Economic Impacts of Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Challenges on National Security of Bangladesh national security of Bangladesh. A set of imperatives for Bangladesh were suggested and a set of time demanding recommendations were also put forward for resolving the crisis and guarding against the security threats and challenges on national security of Bangladesh.

References

1. Al Kabir, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Mazhar (2017), Rohingya Crisis: Security

2. Concern for Bangladesh and Way Out, National Defence College, Dhaka.

3. CPD Dialogue, Implications of the Rohingya Crisis for Bangladesh, November 2017, Dhaka.

4. Dhaka Tribune, March 2018.

5. Kofi Annan, (2017), Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Towards a Peaceful, Fair and Prosperous Future for the People of Rakhine, August 2017.

6. Rahman, Utpala (2010), The Rohingya Refugee: A Security Dilemma for Bangladesh, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.

7. Sarwar, Brigadier General Md Bayezid (2017), The Rohingya Issue: Implication on Regional Security, National Defence College, Dhaka.

8. The Daily Star, 15 October 2017.

38 Author

Brigadier General Abu Hena Mohammad Sadrul Alam, ndc, psc was born on December 30, 1969 at Sirajgonj district of Bangladesh. He was commissioned from Bangladesh Military Academy on December 22, 1989 in the Corps of Ordnance. He served twice as an Instructor in the Ordnance Centre and School, Rajendrapur Cantonment. He was also one of the makers of the leaders in the Bangladesh Military Academy, Bhatiary, Chottogram. As Staff Officer he served in the Military Secretary’s Branch, Division Headquarters and in the Army Headquarters. He commanded a Division Ordnance Company, an Ordnance Depot and Central Ammunition Depot. He is a graduate from Defence Services Command and Staff College. He has obtained two Master degrees and an International Diploma in Supply Chain Management with distinctions. He attended three foreign courses in China, India and USA.

39 CHANGING ROLE OF UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Brigadier General Mohammod Al Masum, PBGM, ndc, psc

Introduction

The United Nations (UN) was established in 1945, following the unforgettable miseries and devastation in Second World War with the aim and objective of maintaining international peace and security. Since 1948, total 72 peace operations have been carried out by the United Nations throughout the world. Millions of military personnel, as well as tens of thousands of UN police personnel, civilian staff including volunteers from more than 128 countries have participated in UN peacekeeping operations. A total of 3,549 United Nations peacekeepers from120 countries made their supreme sacrifices while serving under the UN umbrella during the past 70 years (BIPSOT, 2018). Presently a total 100145 uniformed and civilian personnel are serving in different peace operations all over the world.

Peacekeeping is evolving rapidly with the evolving global order. Changing nature of conflict and the evolving structure of regional security arrangements shape the evolution of UN peacekeeping. Each UN mission is unique in nature. Presently there are 11 different peace operations with varying mandates and tasks are ongoing all over the world. Peacekeepers increasingly face direct threats from different armed groups and being targeted by asymmetric attacks.

40 Identification of the Problem

Dag Hammarskjold, UN Secretary General from 1953-1961, said that the “UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.” Idea of modern Peacekeeping is evolving frequently day by day; new models are coming up as is the strategic environment in which it takes place. Changing nature of conflict, changing major power politics, laid down mandates with multidimensional tasks and the evolving structure of regional security arrangements shape the model of modern peacekeeping.

Over the years, UN has developed a set pattern of conflict mitigation instruments which also sometimes does not effectively work. Challenges can be broadly grouped under global, field mission, Troops Contributing/ Police Contributing Countries (TCCs/PCCs) perspective.

Significance of the Problem

UN has successfully resolved many violent situations, prevented wars and saved millions of lives Globally. On the other hand, there were missions which had been running decades together. Several missions had been renamed/restructured many a times with the revised mandates and mission priorities. Presently mission priorities have been shifted from one to another based on the situational/political changes. ‘Roust Mandate’ being circulated to ensure sustained peace without changing the organizational capabilities of UN. Frequent changes in the mandate by the UN Security Council, mission priorities and variety of tasks create a lot of ambiguities among the peacekeepers. So, to derive any recommendations, we need to critically analyze the mandates and tasks being performed by the peacekeepers in the mission.

Bangladesh is one of the highest troops and police contributing country to United Nations Peacekeeping. It is also a pioneer contributor of women peacekeepers to UN. Over the decades, it had established its defined

41 Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Opportunities position through professionalism, hard work, sincerity and dedications. Bangladeshi peacekeepers are now operating under the most challenging and volatile environment in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Mali, Central African Republic (CAR) and Republic of South Sudan (ROSS). The country is ready to accept any challenges for the sake of world peace. As such benefit derived out of this research work would contribute our future peacekeepers to understand the most complex UN operational environment at the first sight. It would rather help the concerned to evolve required courses of actions to deal with such challenging situation.

Review of Literature

Since 2015, books related to UN peacekeeping are mostly the compilation of the presentations at different seminars, symposium, peace deliberations etc. There are few old books of early 2005 which mainly describe about the reform proposals of UN and respective country contributions to peace operations. Various editorials, articles and write up written by military, non-military, experts and in open sources were also consulted during the research. Findings of these literature review are discussed in the subsequent paragraphs.

Summary of Findings of Literatures Review

Booklet named “Basic Facts about the United Nations” by UN Department of Public Information projected the background history of the formation of United Nations, organogram, charter, membership and power of veto and its effect. The book portrayed an overview on the Principal UN offices, establishment, legal aspects and further functioning of International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The book named “Challenges to Peace Operations in the 21st Century” by Nesrin ADA highlighted few challenges like, diversity in UN Mandate,

42 an increasing multiplicity of players in peace operations, coordination, resources allocation etc. The book ends with the question “Peacekeeping for the Rich or Peacekeeping for the Poor? The book did not study about the operational environment, challenges and way forward for the peace operations.

The book “Reform of the United Nations” by K.R. Gupta has proposed initiatives relating to investments in several core areas including its people, leadership, Information Communications and Technology (ICT), Service delivery, budget and finance, governance and the changes. The book did not mention anything about challenges and future opportunities.

The book “United Nations Peacekeeping Challenges-the Importance of the Integrated Approach” by Anna Powles, Negar Partow and Nick Nelson was the compilation of deliberations by the mission leadership and expert peace makers. It discussed about the challenges for the land forces in Afghanistan and Timor-Leste. It also analyzed the need to have unity of effort in UN peace keeping operations where the writer projected on the way of developing shared understanding on the process of unity.

The book, “Providing Peacekeepers – the politics, challenges and future of United Nations peacekeeping contributions” by Alex J. Bellamy and Paul D. Williams elaborated contemporary patterns in peace operations. It highlighted the contributions of five permanent members of Security Council in UN Peace Keeping Operations. The book only focused on the political issues not mentioning any reform of UN, its challenges and future opportunities.

The book, “Maintaining Peace and Security – The United Nations in a Changing World” by Trudy Fraser talked about human security, protection of forces in peace keeping operations. Neither the book mentioned about the mandate nor the changing role, integrated effort, challenges and future opportunities.

43 Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Opportunities

Research Questions

Primary Question. What are the challenges and opportunities of the peacekeepers performing under changing role in attaining sustainable peace?

Secondary Questions. The study shall also answer the following secondary questions:

• What are the mandated tasks performed by the Peacekeepers currently? • What are the challenges faced by the Peacekeeping operations in present day context? • What are the future opportunities of UN Peacekeeping Operations?

Objective of the Research

Broad Objective. To identify the challenges and opportunities faced by the UN peacekeepers due to changing role, mandate and employment in peacekeeping operations.

Specific Objectives

• To study and evaluate the existing role and tasks performed by the UN. • To examine the challenges peacekeepers face while carrying out the mandated tasks. • To recommend the future role and task of UN peacekeeping forces to ensure sustainable peace.

Research Methodology

Primary Data. Data in the form of question and answer have been collected from UN mission leadership at strategic, operational as well as 44 tactical level both home and abroad through personal contact, interview, questionnaire and survey. Feedback from the Contingent Commanders including Contingent members on active duties in mission areas were obtained. Input from renowned professors of Dhaka and Jahangirnagar University have also been sorted through interviews. Survey have been carried out through various staff officers with varied experiences (both civilian and military) working at various levels of headquarters in UN.

Secondary Data. Secondary data were collected from various published books, e-books, journals, periodicals, articles and web based write up related to the topic. Papers, journals and study materials have been collected from various sources including libraries, Google books, NDC Library, Central Army Library, Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operations and Training (BIPSOT), Bangladesh Institute of International Strategic Studies (BIISS) papers and various other sources. Important data have been collected from various publications and books available in the internet as well. Data of different military journals and publications have also been used in the study. Content analysis of related topics have been analyzed critically and objectively for facts, opinions, and observations.

Limitation of the Research. The paper did not go into details of the financial part of peacekeeping operations due to lack of access tothe actual information and avoid complicacies.

An Analysis of Current Mission Mandates with the Tasks Performed by the Peacekeepers UN Charter

United Nations Charter is the foundation document for all the UN works. The UN was established to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and one of its main tasks is to maintain international peace and security throughout the globe. The Charter makes UN Security Council accountable for the maintenance of international peace and security. The

45 Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Opportunities

Security Council may adopt a range of actions, including the formation of a UN peace operations.

What is a Mandate?

The term “Mandate” refers to the decision that gives authority to carry out its functions. It clearly indicates the establishment of a peacekeeping mission and stating down the types of actions to be carried out by the mission, establishing a UN Secretariat, office or division.

Common Tasks in Current Peace Operations

• Though each UN peace operation is unique in nature, there is a substantial amount of uniformity in the types of mandated tasks assigned by the UN Security Council. Based on their mandate, peace operations may need to: • Deploy to prevent the outbreak of conflict or the spill-over of conflict across borders. • Stabilize conflict situations after a ceasefire, to create an environment for the parties to reach a lasting peace agreement. • Assist in implementing comprehensive peace agreements. • Lead states or territories through a transition to stable government, based on democratic principles, good governance and economic development.

UN peacekeepers are often delegated to play a catalytic role in the following essentially peace building activities:

• Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) of ex- combatants. • Mine actions. • Security Sector Reform (SSR) and other rule of law-related activities.

46 • Protection and promotion of human rights. • Electoral assistance. • Support for the restoration and extension of State authority. • Promotion of social and economic recovery and development.

Security Council mandates also reflect a number of cross-cutting, thematic tasks that are regularly assigned to UN peace operations on the basis of respective Security Council resolution.

Evolving Nature of UN Peace Operations

Peace operations throughout the world are evolving rapidly with the current change in the strategic environment. Since the conflict patterns is changing with the changed structure of global and regional security arrangements which ultimately shape the evolution of UN peacekeeping. Though each UN mission is unique in nature but according to the mandates and tasks the missions can be categorized as under:

• Supporting a Ceasefire Agreement. • Supporting National Authorities in Restoration of Peace. • Extending Political and Security Gains into Longer-term Peace building. • Providing Security and Protection during Ongoing Conflicts.

Challenges Faced in Current Peacekeeping Operations

Challenges to effective peacekeeping largely depends on overall mission environment. It varies mission to mission. Previously, peacekeepers used to perform in an observatory role of cease-fire agreement only. Presently peacekeepers continue to work in an environment where inter tribe or intra-tribe armed conflict is on. With the changed global dynamics, UN is found involved itself in multi-dimensional conflicts resolution without a clear consent of the parties involved in it and faces lot of challenges.

47 Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Opportunities

Global Perspective

Complex Peacekeeping Environment. Change in the dimensions of peace operations largely depends on the evolving situation. Presently peacekeepers are increasingly facing direct threats from the conflicting groups and targeted by asymmetric attacks. In this regard former UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon projected three principal observations in his statement to the UN Security Council in 2015 which are outlined below:

• ‘UN peacekeeping operations are increasingly mandated to operate where there is no peace to keep’.

• ‘Some UN peacekeeping operations are being authorized in the absence of clearly identifiable parties to the conflict or a viable political process’.

• And, ‘UN peacekeeping operations are increasingly operating in more complex environments that feature asymmetric and unconventional threats’.

Failed to Understand Mission Politics. Current Peace operations being directed by the permanent member states of UN Security Council. UN response often gets delayed due to the use of veto power by the P5 biased with political equation and own underlying interest. It would remain a tough task to understand the mission politics at the outset.

Failed to Identify the Root Causes of Conflict. Peacekeeping missions are facing tremendous difficulties and challenges not being able to identify the root causes of conflict.

Pro-Activeness. Pro-activeness in any peace operations is the prime requirement of a successful peace operation. Establishing the mission’s credibility by the troops among the common people of the country is highly needed to deter potential spoilers of the peace process.

48 Budgetary Constraints. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, declared that the United Nations would trim its budget by $600 million, saying, “We’re just getting started (Salem Solomon, 2017)”. To adjust the budget cuts, the United Nations must either close missions or scale down its operations. Survey results in this regard shows below:

Chart 1: Whether UN is doing balanced spending between Civilian and Military or Not?

Through survey, it is evident that most of the budget cut has taken place from the field mission at operational level which has got no effect to the permanent civilian staff pay and allowances.

Diversified Tasking in Current Peacekeeping Operations. The current UN peacekeeping operations encompass more than 400 mandated tasks in a wide range of fields. Peacekeepers adaptation with the tasks assigned, state of training may put peacekeepers to greater risks while compromising the security. Current missions in Republic of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Mali and Central African Republic continue to demonstrate that peacekeepers need proper and diversified training (Post Mission Brief -2018 by the Contingent Commanders of MINUSMA, MINUSCA & MONUSCO).

UN Civil – Military, Military - Humanitarian Misunderstanding. “No peace operations can be successful without an integrated effort by all the stake holders like military, civilian, INGOs, UNAFPs, humanitarians etc. There is a need of coordination, collaborations and sharing of information (Bouche, 2018)”.

49 Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Opportunities

Non-cooperation from the Host Government. Cooperation from the host Government plays a vital role in smooth implementation of the mandate. Unfortunately, in the recent past, the non-cooperation attitude by the host government has created a lot of problem.

‘Protection of the Civilian’ (POC). ‘Protection of the Civilian’ is the core mandated task of present-day peacekeeping operation. Peacekeepers always cannot establish its footprint everywhere to ensure physical protection of the civilian. However, through effective engagement to the political leaders, government authority and local military forces, Protection of Civilian could be ensured.

Expectations Management. The expectations of the local populations from the peacekeepers in the conflicting situation are very high. Peacekeepers may not have adequate resources to meet the high expectation of the locals. Expectation management is very crucial for everybody which peacekeepers got to make everyone understand during peace mediation process.

Peacekeeping Challenges: Leadership Perspective

Success in any Peace operations largely depends on effective leadership both military and civilian. Challenges in leadership perspective gets top most stands of the world. Presently, UN missions have been cut short to limit the expenditure. Most of the cases the strength of uniform personnel been cut short to adjust the budget. The details peacekeepers strength including Staff officer, Military Observer, Police forces, mission experts of current big sized UN missions is appended in Chart 2:

50 Chart 2: Strength of Current UN Missions

Leadership Challenges. Decision making process, integrated effort both by the civilian and military, availability of modern weapon, equipment and communications items are identified to be the main leadership challenge in current UN mission (Lt Gen Hafiz, 2018).

No Peace to Keep. Countries like Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR), Republic of South Sudan (ROSS) and Mali are at present going through huge turmoil-facing very difficult time to see peace there. Both state and non-state actors are using extreme violence resulting in mass killings, genocide, rape, enslavement and mass forced displacement.

Absence of State Authority. Absence of state authority, particularly in remote areas of a UN Mission is a huge challenge for the mission leadership. Absence of effective “Rule of law” in the operation areas is one of the priority challenge in UN.

Facilitating the Peace Process. One of the prime challenge of mission leadership is to carry out appropriate mediation with the conflicting partners. ‘Political Mediation’ should be the priority one tasks of a mission leadership.

51 Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Opportunities

Chart 3: What Should be the Priority of Tasks by a Mission Leadership?

Safety and Security of Peacekeepers. Ensuring safety and security of peacekeepers in a volatile and high risk environment lies with the Mission leadership.

Limitation in Freedom of Movement. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) supposed to allow peacekeepers to have free access to anywhere they feel necessity for the purpose of patrolling, verification, assessment mission or for any kind of peace operations. But in many of the cases, national military uses it in other way to restrict the movement of peacekeepers and monitoring every operational activity of them.

Peacekeeping Challenges: TCC’s Perspective

Operational Adaptation. Most of the TCCs are not fully adapted to current hostile and multidimensional operational environment. TCCs should not prioritise on countries diplomatic stands in UN rather than effective pre-deployment training to the peacekeepers. Peacekeepers operational adaptation supersedes every actions in successful peacekeeping in current world.

Command and Control. Command and control is vital for any successful mission. There exit a parallel command structures between the Force Headquarters and TCCs/PCCs with their own country.

52 • Mission Specific Selection of the Contingents. • Pre-Deployment Operational Readiness. • In-Mission Training and Readiness. • Attacks on Camps and Bases.

• Intelligence. Santos Cruz reports for the first time outlined the requirement of Intelligence in peacekeeping mission. A detail feasibility study is to be carried out prior to establishing any intelligence network.

• CASEVAC/MEDEVAC. Sometimes CASEVAC / MEDEVAC becomes very challenging because of lack of resources especially in the hours of darkness.

• Failure to draft effective and viable MOU with TCCs/PCCs.

Future Opportunities of UN Peacekeeping Operations Global Perspective

Deepening the Engagement of Current Contributors. Member states’ active contributions makes a mission successful. Recently, a number of new member states has joined the mission with utmost dedications and sincerity. Countries like China, Vietnam, and Japan are also joining the peace operation these days while countries like Mauritania, Niger, Morocco, Egypt and Pakistan would like to enhance their active participation in UN mission. However, there are still opportunities to deepening the engagement of current contributors to UN peace operations largely.

Doable Mandate. Peacekeeping operations should have clear, concise, realistic and doable mandates from the Security Council which has to be clearly agreed upon by all the stake holders. The mandate should be doable or attainable with a clearly defined end-state.

Allocation of Budget for Appropriate Resourcing. Security Council after formulating the ‘robust mandate’ should also allocate required budget

53 Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Opportunities for appropriate resourcing. A balance should be made between over spending and pragmatic spending.

Capability Building. Peacekeepers should devote themselves in capability building after getting adequate budget allocated. ‘Robust mandate’ should have robust and capable peacekeepers. TCCs and PCCs should also develop their capabilities together with the handling capabilities of modern weapon and equipment.

Introduction of High-end Technological Systems. Modern and ‘Robust Peacekeeping’ should put high importance on the use of modern sophisticated equipment in order to gather accurate and timely intelligence.

Women Participation in Peace Operations. Participation of women peacekeepers, as troops, police and civilian staff provides new opportunity to contemporary multidimensional peacekeeping environment.

Chart 4: Response State of Questionnaire ‘Whether Gender Parity reduces the SEA Cases or Not?’

Proactive Posture. Peacekeepers should act proactively to ensure prime mandated task. Instead of static posture, peacekeepers should respond proactively and decisively to the threats at the tactical, operational and strategic levels.

Forces Generation. Forces Generation Section (FGS) under UNDPKO is responsible for timely deployment of peacekeepers into respective mission. ‘UN Peacekeeping Capabilities Readiness System (UNPCRS)’,

54 allow the member states to deploy peacekeepers within a month in the conflict zones. FGS continues to pursue the process throughout the year (Brig Gen Sarwar, 2019). TCCs/PCCs Headquarters of member states should also have responsibilities to timely select the peacekeepers and ensure their arrival to the UN mission within time limits.

Vertical Integration. Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG) and the Force Commander (FC) are vertically connected to the Chain of Command of a UN Mission. Same time, TCCs do not fall under his full control of FHQ. Same time, TCCs remain answerable to their respective country for any sort of casualty including the COE.

Horizontal Integration. In modern peace operations, integrated efforts among all civilian, military, police forces, Formed Police Unit (FPU), INGOs/NGOs, humanitarians and others are the keys to success. The way political mediation is needed at the top level of leadership, similarly horizontal integration by all such stake holders is also very important.

Future Opportunities: TCC Perspective

A Threat Oriented Mission Footprint. UN always prefer to have lighter footprint. ‘Santos Cruz Report’ identified ‘Lighter Footprint’ to be the root cause of maximum casualties and recommended that minimum footprint to be a ‘company sized’ forces. Therefore, a threat oriented mission footprint is suggested.

UN Peacekeeping Reform. For effective peace operation, reformation of entire UN system is to be carried out. UN should come out of the effect of permanent member states desire.

Multidimensional and Multicultural Experience. Present peacekeeping system of multidimensional deployment provides opportunities for the TCCs/PCCs to work in international environment with cultural and historical diversity. Thus, members of TCCs/PCCs are experiencing new

55 Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Opportunities situations and challenges which would ultimately develop their professional maturity as peacekeeper.

Enhanced Professionalism. TCCs/PCCs need to provide competent contingents for UN mission. With the introduction of sophisticated equipment, realistic training, experiencing different kinds of threat, performing in multidimensional environment are positively developing the professionalism of the member states contributing troops.

Conclusion

United Nations peacekeeping is a collective effort. With changing nature of conflict of the world, UN peacekeeping has become more important and complex in nature because of the intra state, inter communal violence, inter clan, sub clan, sub-sub clan conflict. UN would recognize its responsibility to protect civilians from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and other crimes against humanity. In order to meet these responsibilities, governments increasingly look for effective peacekeepers backed with adequate resources and doable mandate.

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations proved to be the most reliable and effective tool for maintaining peace and stability of the world. To meet the forgoing challenges, peacekeeping operations must increasingly be dynamic, and are expected to perform multiple and interdependent tasks in harsh operating environments. This would demand doable mandate with adequate resources, good mobility, strong and secure supply chains, durable equipment and greater self-sustainability.

Bangladesh is one of the highest troops contributing country and second top police contributing country in UN. Bangladeshi peacekeepers have earned the credentials of a ‘Role Model’ in global peacekeeping due to their professionalism, impartiality, integrity and humane attitude. Father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his speech on 29th session of UN General Assembly on 25 September 1974 said, “I

56 know that the souls of our martyrs join us in pledging that the Bengalee nation fully commits itself to the building of a world order in which the aspirations of all men for peace and justice will be realized”. He also reiterated “Peace is an imperative for survival of mankind; it represents the deepest aspirations of men and women throughout the world”. Since then following the direction of the father of the nation, Bangladesh is committed wholeheartedly for maintaining peace and stability of the world facing those challenges to better utilize future opportunities.

References

1. Al Mamun, Firoz, The Daily Sun, 2013 “Bangladesh Armed Forces in UN Peacekeeping.”

2. Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operations and Training, Seminar Papers, “Changing Role of United Nations – Challenges and Opportunities”, Dhaka, 2018.

3. Financial Express, 2013, “UN peacekeeping mission- Imperatives for modernization”.

4. Johnson, Dr. Pat; USA, 2008, “A History of Mediation in Somalia since 1988”

5. Kenneth Allard, USA, 1994; ‘Somalia Operations: Lessons Learned.’

6. Kingsley, Dr Regeena, ‘The UNPROFOR Operation, National Caveats & Genocide in the Srebrenica UN “Protected Area.”

7. Kofi Annan, Dhaka Courier “Reforming and Strengthening the United Nations,” New York, 2005.

8. Menkhaus, Professor Ken, Hassan Sheikh, Ali Joqombe, Dr Pat Johnson; 2008, “A History of Mediation in Somalia since 1988”

57 Changing Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Challenges and Opportunities

9. Parliamentary Hearing at the UN, 2004, New York, “The Challenges of Peacekeeping in the 21st Century”.

10. Rachel Ibreck & Naomi Pendle, “Community Security and Justice under United Nations”, New York, 2017.

11. Randi Solhjell and Madel Rosland, Stability: International Journal of Security, “Stabilization in the Congo: Opportunities”, New York, 2017.

12. Salem Solomon, December 12, 2017 “How Will US Push to Cut UN Peacekeeping Budget Affect Soldiers?”

13. The Daily Star, 2006 “Blessed are the peace makers” on occasion of UN day Celebrations.

14. The Daily Star, 2013, Harun ur Rashid Barrister “International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers Peacekeeping and Bangladesh”.

15. The Daily Star, 2013, Rasul Ilyas ftekhar, “Peacekeeping in world order”.

Author

Brigadier General Mohammod Al Masum, PBGM, ndc, psc was commissioned in the Corp of Infantry and served number of East Bengal Regiment both in Chattogram Hill Tracts and plain land. Besides, mandatory courses he did few special courses like Basic Para Course, Jump Master Course in Turkey, VIP Protection Course in Thailand, and Potential Observer and Staff Officers’ Course in Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation and Training (BIPSOT). He is a graduate from Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur who served as Staff Officer grade two of a newly raised Infantry Brigade and Staff Officer Grade-1 in Staff Duties (SD) Directorate, Army Headquarters. He attended ‘Senior Strategic Leadership Programme (SSLP) run by the Cranford University of London and Defence Academy, UK. The

58 author has the service experiences as the Pioneer Battalion Commander, Training Battalion, the East Bengal Regimental Centre (EBRC) and was pioneer in evolving New Recruit Training Curriculum (NRTC). He earned ‘Distinguished’ grade as Chief Instructor while serving in prestigious the East Bengal Regimental Centre. He held the experiences of serving both the Head of the State and Head of the Government of Bangladesh as Assistant Director, Special Security Force (SSF). He served as Region Commander, Border Guard Bangladesh, South-East Region. For his outstanding operational performances and recognition, he was awarded with prestigious ‘President Border Guard Medal (PBGM). The author had the opportunity of commanding twice a Bangladesh Infantry Regiment. He has participated in UN Peace Keeping Operations thrice, firstly with the Contingent in Sierraleone where he served as Operation Officer, secondly with his regiment as Deputy Contingent Commander in DR Congo and lastly as Sector Commander of a multiple sector under UNMSS, South Sudan.

59 IMPACT OF FOOD SECURITY ON THE DOMAIN OF NON-TRADITIONAL SECURITY ISSUES-BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVE

Brigadier General Md. Sadequzzaman, ndc, afwc, psc

“There is no food security without peace and no peace without food.”

– Ertharin Cousin, WFP

Introduction

Article 15 (A) of the constitution of Bangladesh (Bangladesh Constitution 1972, p.13) and Goal No: 2 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG 2015) underlines about the right to food and hunger free society respectively. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are 03 aspects of food security. Firstly availability of food, secondly access to food and finally the use of safe food. The country has achieved food sufficiency in recent time. But food sufficiency may not ensure adequate access to food for the people (Begum, E., D’Haese, Luc. & Hossain, M. 2014). GDP growth rate in Bangladesh for the year 2018/19 is likely to cross 7.8% and increase around 9% in coming few years (Mahmud, N. 2018). For sustainable development of a country security is a very important issue. Security means development and development may not always mean security.

The geo-strategic disposition of Bangladesh raises numerous external and internal non-traditional security (NTS) concerns. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries for the adverse impact of climate change. The climate change has unswerving impact on the quantity of food production and its quality (Ranger, N. 2012). Food shortage in Bangladesh is likely to create enormous chaos and confusion thus destabilize the security of

60 the country. Ensuring food security of so many people remains a great challenge for Bangladesh.

Implications of NTS and Food Security Issues for Bangladesh Historical Perspective of NTS

The world witnessed the horror of deadliest destruction by fighting two world wars where millions of people were killed. The traditional security became nation centric which got prominence at the time of ‘Cold War’ era from 1945 to 1990. There after the concept of security took a paradigm shift to human centric NTS with the reunification of Germany in1990 and the dissolution of USSR in 1991. The NTS issues got prominence when the Heads of the states discussed human centric security issues for the first time during the 3046th meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) assembly held on the 31 January 1992 (UNSC 3046th Meeting 1992). Since the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre the governments are paying attention to the NTS issues.

NTS Issues in Bangladesh

There are host of NTS issues in Bangladesh. These can be categorized as external and internal sources of NTS.

External Sources of NTS

The issues which influences the security affairs of a state from non-military sources outside its territorial boundary is often termed as external NTS sources. Some of the external sources of NTS for Bangladesh are:

61 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

• Cross Border violation • Push in/ Push back • Border Killings • Human Trafficking • Drug Trafficking • External Migration • Water Sharing Issues • Economic Sanctions • Trade War • Cyber Security • Forcefully Displaced Myanmar National (FDMN) Issue • Adverse Impact of Climate Change • Natural Calamities

Internal Sources of NTS

Bangladesh is 10th densely populated and 8th populous country in the world (Bangladesh Population 2019). The country is extremely vulnerable for the NTS threat from the internal sources (Sobhan, F. 2012). Some of the internal sources of NTS are listed below:

• Food Security • Health Security • Energy Security • Corruption • Over Population • Poverty • Political Instability and Violence • Radicalization

62 • Religious Extremism • Unemployment • Quality Education • Growing Economic Disparity • Environmental Pollution

Importance of Food Security

Food is one of the fundamental rights of human being. We don’t live to eat but we eat to live. Providing food to citizens remained the most important factors for all the rulers throughout the history. Food security remained as the most important element of security not only today but in all ages.

Historical Perspective of Food Security in Bangladesh

Food grains were mostly affluent in Bengal. During the reign of Mughal Emperor Shaista Khan (1664 - 1688), the price of food grain was so much low that 08 mound rice was available by only 01 taka (Banglapedia 2019). However, still there had been instances of famine in Bengal where millions of people died.

Great Bengal Famine of 1770 or ‘Chiattorer Monnontor’

During 1769, there was a failed monsoon in the lower Ganges plane of Bihar and Bengal region. This triggered widespread draught and failure of two crops. Devastation of wars of Palashi in 1757, Buxer in 1764 and the British exploitative tax policy shocked the rural economy. As a result, famine broke out in the following year 1770, where 10 million people died. The Bengali year 1176 coincides with the year of famine thus Bangla labels this famine as manmade one (Bengal Famine 1770).

63 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

Famine of 1943

Extreme shortage of food and ineffective supply system coupled with faulty British policy at the midst of Japanese advance towards India during WW II caused the Bengal famine in 1943. About 03 to 04 million people died in that famine. Winston Churchill’s comment amply reflects the neglect of British towards the Indians:

“I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits.” (Sing, P. 2018)

Food Security in Global Context

Food security is a major concern in the world. The number of malnourished people has increased in the world. Around 804 million people were continually deprived of food in 2016 and in 2017 the number has increased to about 821 million. This means that near about 821 million people are deprived of enough food to eat in a single day. Scenario is worst in the region of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Regional Context

Bangladesh is located in a geographically contiguous landmass of Indian subcontinent and Myanmar. It is known that India exports rice (Swaminathan, M. & Bhavani, R. 2013). India is the third largest producer of food grains having feeding strength of 1.40 billion. According to the UN report, almost one-fourth of the world’s hunger stake stay in India and the number of malnourished people are about 195 million. In the food security index India ranks 74th, Bangladesh ranks 89th position out of 113 major countries (UNB 2017). Myanmar produces more than its demand still many of the people remain hungry for not having purchasing capability.

64 Evaluation of Demand versus Production

The overall food grain production growth rate is higher than population growth rate of 1.20%. The individual income and price elasticity of rice were 0.199 and - 0.108 respectively. It was calculated that till the year 2021, the yearly demand of food exceeds the total supply which were -1.76% for wheat and -0.28% for rice. This denotes the demands are larger than the supply of both these staple crops. Such, a situation is risky for the food security of Bangladesh (Begum, M. & D’Haese, L. 2010).

National Food Policy 2006

There is a fourteen page National Food Policy which was published in the year 2006. It has six sections and three national objectives with strategy set for each of the objectives. Objective 1 states about the stable and sufficient quantity of nutritious food supply for the people. Objective 2 mentions about the access to food by increasing the purchase power and objective 3 mentions about adequate nutrition for all citizens especially for the children and women (National Food Policy (2006).

National Nutrition Policy 2015

National nutrition policy for Bangladesh was formulated with the goal to improve nutritional status of the people especially disadvantaged groups, including mothers, adolescent girls and children; to prevent and control malnutrition; and to accelerate national development through raising the standard of living (National Nutrition Policy 2015).

65 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

Survey Findings on Vulnerabilities of Food Security in Bangladesh

A comprehensive survey has been conducted on the subject to validate some of the variables. The target population comprised both civilian and military personnel. Graphical representation of some of the findings are enumerated below:

Climate Change

Most significant vulnerability for food security in Bangladesh is climate change. The principal source of food is the nature which is exceedingly disturbed by human being. The survey result on the adverse impact of climate change on food security is shown below:

Chart 1: Climate Change has Adverse Impact on the Food Security.   





Source: Survey conducted by the author.

River Erosion

River erosion causes the loss of about 10,000 hectors of land each year against population growth rate of 1.2% in the country. Demand for food is rising and farmers are in challenge to meet this growing demand of food.

66 Sea Level Rise

About 07 - 10 million people will be homeless due to 11% land inundated out of 19 coastal districts with only 45 cm rise in sea level (Nishat, A. 2016). Nearly 27 million people will remain under threat for sea level rise by the year 2050 in Bangladesh (Tribune Desk 2017).

Figure 1: Potential Impact of Sea Level Rise in Bangladesh.

Source: GRID, UNDP.

Intrusion of Saline Water

The salinity affected land in Bangladesh are continually increasing from 83.3 million hectares in 1973 to102 million hectares in 2000 and to 105.6 million hectares in 2009 and still it is increasing. About 26 % of salinity has increased in last 35 years and gradually spreading to non-coastal districts. Recently, 12 districts are identified as salinity affected in Bangladesh by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Seasonal Flood and Flash Flood

Among 57 trans-boundary rivers, 54 rivers flow from India and 3 from Myanmar. The Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna (GBM) system covers

67 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective a catchments area of about 1.7 million sq. km. During monsoon around 75% land of Bangladesh can be flooded as seen in 1988.

Chart 2: Intensity of flood in Bangladesh. ,QWHQVLW\RI IORRGV       

  ORRGHG   DUHDI  HRI ORRGHGLQVTNP   $UHDI

 HUFHQWDJ

 3                                              Source: FloodgraphEng.jpg.

Flash flood mainly occur during the pre-monsoon time and damages the standing Boro and Rabi crops. The Haor region of north-eastern Bangladesh was rigorously affected by flash floods in 2017, damaging rice and crops worth US $500 million (Bangladesh Flood and Landslide 2017).

Cyclonic Storm

There is an increasing trend of severe cyclone in Bangladesh. By the year 2100, there will be a shift towards stronger storms with severity increase from 02 to 11% (Knutson, T 2010).

68 Figure 2: Showing the Tracks of Cyclone in Bangladesh.

Source: Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services.

The casualty and damage caused by some of the severe cyclones are shown below:

Table 1: Casualty and Damage Caused by the Severe Cyclones in Bangladesh. Serial Year and Name of Casualty/Damage Cyclone 01. 1970 500,000 Killed 02. 1991 1,38,000 Killed 03. 2007 (Sidre) 3,000 Killed and damage $450 million 04. 2009 (Aila) 339 Killed, damage $295.6 million 05. 2013 (Mohashen) 107 Killed and damaged $5.14 million 06. 2017 (Mora) 135 Killed and damaged $297 Million 07. 2019 (Fani) 89, BD-17 and damaged > $99 million

69 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

Draught

Drought is one of the major natural hazards in Bangladesh. Depending on the severity of drought, crop damage ranges between 10 to 70 percent or even more for Aman and other rice and crop diversities. Due to draught of the year 1990, there was a short fall of about 3.5 million tons in rice production in the north western region.

Figure 3: Showing the Drought Situation in Bangladesh.

Source: http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Drought

Depletion of Ground Water Level

Groundwater is very important for irrigation in Bangladesh. But ground water table drops drastically during Boro seasons. Ground water level has been shifted to about 04 meters during last 34 years (Molla, H. 2017).

70 Figure 4: Year wise Depletion of Ground Water Level in Bangladesh.

Source: http://www.sos-arsenic.net/english/groundwater/index.html

Reduction of Agricultural Land

The agricultural land of Bangladesh is diminishing by nearly 01% each year, according to the data from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and other independent sources. Around 30% of the agricultural land is under tremendous risk of being converted for other use by next 30 years.

Cost of Food Production

The food price rises due to the rise of cost in food production. Once the food price rise high the purchasing capability of the marginalized people diminishes. About 25% of the population live below poverty line. Increased cost of food production affects the food security of Bangladesh.

71 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

High Rate of Population Growth

Bangladesh is an over populated country. The present population growth rate is 1.20%. The country’s population is likely to reach to 186.60 million by the year 2030 with present growth rate.

Rapid Urbanization

Rapid urbanization is taking toll in the country’s agricultural land. This poses a great challenge to food security in Bangladesh.

Withdrawing of River Water by Upper Riparian Countries

China has already constructed a dam named Zangmu on the upstream of River Brahmaputra in Tibet and 03 more dams are under construction (TNN (2016). The construction of dams and withdrawal of water from the international rivers such as the Ganges, Punarbhaba, the Teesta have enormous consequence on our food production (Banglapedia 2019). The proposed Tipaimukh dam is also likely to have hydrological imbalance in the Meghna basin (The Daily Star 2012).

Figure 5: Showing the Construction of Dams over River Brahmaputra by China.

Source: TNN (2016), op. cit.

72 Reduction of Soil Fertility

Cropping intensity is 185% in Bangladesh (Roy, C. 2012). None of the seasons is left without farming. Over cultivation attributes in reducing land fertility. The reduction of soil fertility causes less yield which ultimately impact the food security. The survey finding on reducing soil fertility day by day in Bangladesh is shown on the chart below:

Chart 3: Survey result of Soil Fertility Reducing day by day in Bangladesh.

   



Source: Survey conducted by the author.

Excessive Use of Chemical Fertilizer

Farming in Bangladesh is highly dependent on chemical fertilizer. Inadequate use of fertilizer can strip the nutrients thus degrading soil fertility. The overuse of fertilizer causes run-off contributing to contamination of local environment (Islam, M. & Pande, R. 2014).

Excessive Use of Pesticides

The pesticides are made of harmful chemical agents. The residual effect of pesticides causes various diseases in human body such as cancer, renal and liver failure etc. making the food security vulnerable.

73 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

Rohingya Issue

Rohingya population is a great concern for the food security in Bangladesh (Noor, M. & Islam, M. 2018). Though national and international agencies are providing food supply to the Rohingya population but it poses a great threat to the food security.

Illegal Syndicates

Many Illegal syndicates are profoundly active in the country. These syndicates controls food stock, supply and market price to a great extent. The illegal syndicates make food security vulnerable which is also proved in the survey:

Chart 4: Illegal Syndicates Making Food Security Vulnerable.

Source: Survey conducted by the author.

Lack of Agro Based Industries

Different parts of the country are famous in producing good quality crops, fruits and vegetables. Aromatic rice of Dinajpur, pineapple of Madhupur, mangoes of Rajshahi are better than other parts of the country. The agro based industries could add much value and attribute to food security of Bangladesh.

74 Food Adulteration

Food adulteration has become a growing concern. Food adulteration will affect the healthy growth of our future generation. A study found in Dhaka that 24% of biscuits, 54% of breads 59% of ice-creams, and 96% of sweetmeats were heavily adulterated (Rahman, M., et al. 2015). The survey findings also profoundly support the fact:

Chart 5: Food Adulteration is a Vulnerability to Food Security.

Source: Survey conducted by the author.

Lack of Storage Facility

Storage of food grains is immensely important to meet any contingency ascend due to natural calamity or for any other reason. The food stock capacity of the country comprising paddy, rice and wheat is only 2.11 million tons (BSS 2018).

Insufficient Use of Modern Technology

Farmers of Bangladesh generally use traditional farming technique. Use of modern technology can bring revolution in farming and increase in food production (Roy, K. 2012).

75 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

National Policy for Saving Farming Land There is a draft national land policy which was published in the year 2016 by the ministry of Land (Draft National land Policy 2016). The draft land policy addresses the issue of saving agricultural land but proper implementation of the policy remains as a far cry.

Diplomatic Effort to Establish Regional Food Bank

The food supply should be ensured from outside the country if there is any internal crisis. Increased diplomatic effort is needed for establishing a regional food bank in this region.

Impact of Food Security on The NTS Issue and Ways Forward Hunger in Bangladesh

Hungry people are the angry people. Hunger is the foremost impact of the food insecurity. According to the global hunger index (GHI) 2017, Bangladesh rating was 26.50% in 2017 comparing to the 37.60% in 2008 (GHI Report 2017).

Chart 6: Showing Bangladesh Percentage in GHI.

ASIAN PEERS IMPROVE FASTER THAN INDIA

Global Hunger Index (in %) 6 53.6 30.1 27.1 55.6 26.5

22.2 46.2 22. 45.8 43.6 43.6 37.6 46.2 35.6 32.2 31.6 Myanmar Bangladesh Cambodia 1992 2000 2008 2017

Source: GHI Report, 2017; IFPRI

76 Food Security as an NTS Issue

Breach of food security has impact on the NTS issues of Bangladesh. Absence of adequate food supply may agitate the people and breach security. Survey data also justify the same:

Chart 7: Breach of Food Security has Impact on NTS of Bangladesh.



 

 

Source: Survey conducted by the author.

Internal Migration

People are likely to migrate from food shortage areas to food affluent areas. Already growth and density of population in southern part is less than the other parts of Bangladesh because of less yield due to salinity.

Famine

Demand of food increases with the proportionate increase in population. If nature betrays by repeated crop damages coupled with policy failure the possibility of famines can’t be domineered in Bangladesh.

77 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

Impact on Health Security

Food security and health security are deeply interconnected. Sound health can’t be ensured without adequate and nutritious food. The survey result also strongly justify the fact. About 44% of the respondents mostly agree and 37% of them strongly agree that food security has impact on health security.

Impact on Lives

Food security has direct impact on the human lives. Lack of nutrition decreases the body immunity which causes loss of lives. Adulterated food causes loss of lives by harmful diseases such as cancer and major multi- organ failures.

Lowering the National Development

Lot of money is drained out to import food and health care services due to food shortage and malnutrition which shrinks the budget for expending in development projects. The survey result further justifies the statement:

Chart 8: Food Insecurity Contributes in Lowering Development.    



Source: Survey conducted by the author.

78 Political Unrest

Absence of food security may cause political unrest in the country. The opposition may ignite the situation blaming the ruling party who so ever is in the power. Food insecurity is a potential cause of political unrest in the country.

Social Chaos and Lawlessness

Food security has impact on social order. The food insecurity can increase extortion, robbery, social chaos and lawlessness. In the survey about 34% of the respondents strongly agree and 40% of them mostly agree that food insecurity can cause social chaos and lawlessness in the society:

Vulnerability of the Government

Food insecurity instigate social and political unrest which increases vulnerability of the government. The government may face pressure by the people and other political parties.

Impact Analysis of Food Security on NTS

The food security has direct impact on the NTS of the country. It also has impact on the health security, education security, marginalization, external and internal migration of people. Other interlinking impacts are also shown in Figure 6:

79 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

Figure 6: Overall Impact of Food Security on the NTS Issues

Source: Author’s own construct.

Ways Forward Short Term Plan

• Reviewing the National Food, Nutrition and Land Policy. National food policy was formulated in 2006, nutrition policy in 2015 and land policy in 2016. In the era of globalization and technological shrewdness the formulated policies need periodical reviewing to keep pace with the rapid changing scientific and socio-economic spectrum.

• Developing a Comprehensive Data Base. A comprehensive data base is of dire necessity to keep the records of food production, demand, storage capacity, natural calamity, market behaviour, land survey, topographical data, government installations, agro based industries etc. for ensuring food security.

• Increasing Supervision and Monitoring. Food adulteration and illegal syndicate are critical issues in Bangladesh. Effective market supervision and monitoring should be ensured along with appropriate legal actions and perpetrators.

80 • Research Activities. Extensive research is needed to invent flood, cyclone and salinity tolerant variety of crops. Research should embark on the enrichment of nutrition value of serial food. Incorporation of more protein, zinc and minerals in staple food may resolve the mal- nutrition problem.

• Emergency Response Stock. There should be sufficient buffer stock to meet any emergency situation arose due to natural disasters. Stockpiling should be as per geographic division of the country.

• Cross-Sectorial and Multidimensional Approach. Cross-sectorial and Multidimensional approach is necessary as the food security issue is interconnected with many ministries. For proper implementation of the policies all other related ministries need to be well knitted.

Mid-Term Plan

• Inventing Climate Change Resilient Seeds. Traditional seeds cannot sustain the climate change effect. The government and nongovernment research institutes should conduct extensive research for inventing climate change resilient variety of seeds.

• Expanding the VGF and VGD Activities. The VGF and VGD network should be expanded to ensure food security in the country. More and more marginalized people should be brought under VGF and VGD facilities.

• Use of Modern Technology. Modern technology should be used in food production, processing and preservation. The government should provide sufficient fund for importing modern technology for agriculture and food industry.

• Developing Storage Capacity (CSD and Silo). Present stock of 2.11 million tons against total production of 40 million tons of food grain is utterly insufficient. A priority project should be undertaken to

81 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

build storage facilities for at least one-fourth of total production with preference to serial food.

• Quality Seed Storage and Crop Diversification. Bangladesh imports lot of seeds where quality is uncertain. Understanding the demand adequate quality seed storage should be built in the country. Crop diversification is essential for sustainable food security.

• Increasing Subsidy in Agriculture. More subsidy in agriculture can ensure increased agro-production. This will also be helpful for keeping the market price in a level for easy reach of the marginalized people.

• Monitoring of Export and Import. Export and import of food grains should be closely monitored. Exporting food grains should be avoided at the advent of any natural calamity in the country.

• Establishing Regional Food Bank. A regional food bank (RFB) can be established capitalizing the regional partnership. The RFB may have storage facilities in each member countries with headquarters in Dhaka.

Long Term Plan

• Reclaiming Coastal Land by Constructing Dams and Sluice Gates. Depth along the coast of the Bay of Bengal is decreasing due to sedimentation from the GBM river system. Land can be reclaimed in the coastal belt by constructing dams and sluice gates.

• Setting up Agro Based Industry. Agro based industries can add value to the product and in turn the farmers will be benefited in the long run. Setting such industries will create employment opportunity and earn foreign currency by exporting the finished products.

• Conservation of Agricultural Land. A master plan should be formulated and implemented to save the arable land from unplanned industrialization and urbanization.

82 • International River Water Sharing Treaty. The Ganges water sharing treaty of 1996 will expire in the year 2026 (Henazes, P. 2014). The Ganges water sharing treaty should be carefully renewed. Some of the international river water issues are yet to be settled which needs intense persuasion.

• Implementation of the Delta Plan 2100. The environmental issues such as effect of climate change, climate resilience, disaster management and steady economic growth of the country envisioned in the delta plan (Delta Plan 2100). The implementation of the Delta Plan is likely to ensure food security of Bangladesh.

Recommendations

• Existing food, nutrition and land policies may be reviewed and set into proper execution

• Establishment of an inter-ministerial committee for supervision, monitoring and management of food security issues in Bangladesh

• Adequate budgetary allocation for conducting research, infrastructural development, buying modern technology and expanding social safety net

• Establishing a Regional Food Bank and early warning mechanism of the natural calamities in the region

• Vibrant participation of Bangladesh in international forum on climate change issues

83 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

Conclusion

The national security across the globe is labelled by the traditional and NTS issues. There is a paradigm shift to the national security dilemma in recent years. Any threat on human security which originates from natural causes or from manmade causes are included in the NTS security issues of a country. Security means development and development may not always mean security. For sustainable economic development of a country stability and security are two very important aspects which need to be ensured.

The constitution of Bangladesh and the UN SDGs underlines about the right to food and hunger free society respectively. According to WHO there are 03 aspects of food security. Firstly, the availability of food means the sufficient consistent supply of food. Secondly, access to food means physical and economic means reaching to adequate amount of nutritious food. Finally, the use of safe food means hygienic food, safe drinking water and sanitation. Breach of food security will result in internal security crisis in the country.

References

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2. Begum, M. & D’Haese, L. (2010). Supply and demand situations for major crops and food items in Bangladesh, J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 8(1): 91-102, 2010. Available at: https://www.banglajol.info/index. php/JBAU/article/view/6405, accessed on 11 June 2019.

3. BSS (2018). Bangladesh’s food stock capacity 2.1m tonnes: Minister, The Daily Prothom Alo, 21 June 2018, online version. Available at: https://en.prothomalo.com/economy/news/178053/Bangladesh-s- food-stock-capacity-2.1m-tonnes, accessed on 04 July 2019.

84 4. Cabellero, Emmers and Acharya, 2006, Non-Traditional Security in Asia, Ashgate Publishing Comapany, Suite 420, 101 Cherry Street, Burlington, VT 05401 – 4405, USA.

5. Caldwell and Williams. (2000). Seeking Security in an Insecure World. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706.

6. Dadwal, R., Shebonti and Sinha. K. U. (2015). Non Traditional Security Challenges in Asia – Approaches and Response. Routledge, 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Rutledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017.

7. Delta Plan (2100). Available at: http://www.lged.gov.bd/ UploadedDocument/UnitPublication/17/624/Bangladesh%20Delta%20 Plan%202100%20Draft%20Report.pdf, accessed on 07 July 2019.

8. Dorosh and Shahabuddin. (2000). Food Policy and Food Security in Bangladesh: Moving Forward After the 1991 Flood. Mohona printers, 163/A, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka.

9. Draft National Land Policy 2016. Available at: https://landportal.org/ library/resources/draft-national-land-policy-bangladesh, accessed on 04 July 2019.

10. Henazes, P. (2014). Sharing Water Vs. Sharing Rivers: The 1996 Ganges Treaty. Available at: http://www.globalwaterforum.org/2014/07/28/ sharing-waters-vs-sharing-rivers-the-1996-ganges-treaty/, accessed on 06 July 2019.

11. Islam, M. & Pande, R. (2014). Reducing Imbalanced Fertilizer Use in Bangladesh. Available at: https://www.povertyactionlab.org/ evaluation/reducing-imbalanced-fertilizer-use-bangladesh, accessed on 03 July 2019.

12. Kafiluddin, AKM. (2005). Human Health, Diseases and the Environment. Padma Printers and Colour Ltd. Dhaka.

85 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

13. Knutson, T (2010). MIT Open access article: Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change, 201 Forrestal Road Princeton, New Jersey 08542 U.S.A. Available in file:///C:/Users/DELL/Downloads/62558.pdf, accessed on 12 April 2019.

14. Madeley, J. (2002). Food for All – The need for a new Agriculture. The University Press Ltd, Red Crescent Building, 114 Motijheel C/A, PO Box 2611, Dhaka 1000.

15. Mahmud, N. (2018). GDP Growth rate expected to reach 8.25% this year. Available at: https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2018/09/06/gdp- growth-rate-expected-to-reach-8-25-this-year, accessed on 26 March 2019.

16. Marsalek, M., Watt, W.E., Zeman, E., and Sieker, F. (1999). Food Issues in Cotemporary Water Management. Kluer Academic Publishers, P.O Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, the Netherlands, pp. 6-14.

17. National Food Policy (2006). Food Planning and Monitoring Unit (FPMU) | Ministry of Food. Available at: http://fpmu.gov.bd/ agridrupal/national-food-policy, accessed on 19 June 2019.

18. National Nutrition Policy 2015. Available at: http://extwprlegs1.fao. org/docs/pdf/bgd152517.pdf, accessed on 01 December 2019.

19. Nishat, A. et al (2016). Assessment of Sea Level Rise on Bangladesh Coast through Trend Analysis, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, ‘Message’. Available at: http://gobeshona.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ SLR-Report_final_July-2016.pdf, accessed on 11 April 2019.

20. Rahman, M., et al. (2015). Food Adulteration: a serious public health concern in Bangladesh. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/ publication/281480833_Food_Adulteration_a_serious_public_ health_concern_in_Bangladesh, accessed on 04 July 2019.

21. Ranger, N. (2012). How will climate change affect food production? Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/

86 sep/19/climate-change-affect-food-production, accessed on 26 March 2019.

22. Roy, C. (2012). High tech agriculture in Bangladesh, The Daily Star, 26 June 2012, on line version. Available in https://www.thedailystar.net/ news-detail-239708, accessed on 04 July 2019.

23. Roy, K. (2012). High tech agriculture in Bangladesh, The Daily Star, 26 June 2012, online version. Available at: https://www.thedailystar.net/ news-detail-239708, accessed on 04 July 2019.

24. Sing, P. (2018). Real Cause of the Devastating Bengal Famine 1943. Available at: https://medium.com/@Prakhar__Singh/real-causes-of- the-devastating-bengal-famine-1943-daac8389495e, accessed on 10 June 2019.

25. Sobhan, F., (2012), Non-traditional Security Threats to Bangladesh. Available at: http://bei-bd.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ whc50c59a4272418.pdf, accessed on 14 June 2019.

26. Swaminathan, M. & Bhavani, R. (2013). Food production & availability - Essential prerequisites for sustainable food security, Indian J Med Res. 2013 Sep; 138(3): 383–391. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3818607/, accessed on 11 June 2019.

27. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (2011). Printed with latest amendment, Government of Bangladesh.

28. The Daily Star (2012). Enhance skills before survey on Tipai dam, 30 January, 2012, online version. Available at: https://www.thedailystar. net/news-detail-220420, accessed on 03 July 2019.

87 Impact of Food Security on the Domain of Non-Traditional Security Issues-Bangladesh Perspective

Author

Brigadier General Md. Sadequzzaman, afwc, psc is a course member of National Defence Course 2019. He was born on 31 October 1971. He was commissioned from Bangladesh Military Academy on 9th June 1992 with 26 BMA long course in the corps of infantry. He is a graduate of Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur and National Defence College, Mirpur. He obtained Master’s Degree on Defence Studies from National University and Master of Philosophy from Bangladesh University of Professionals. Besides serving in number of appointments in units, he served as Brigade Major of a Composite Brigade, General Staff Officer – I in Headquarters Army Training and Doctrine Command and in Military Training Directorate, Army Headquarters. He also served as a Director in Special Security Force. He served as instructor in the School of Infantry & Tactics and Chief Instructor in the Noncommissioned Officers Academy. He served as a Platoon Commander in the United Nations Missions in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and as Staff Officer as the Chief of G-7 Branch in Force Headquarters, United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). He has commanded an Infantry Battalion, a Composite Brigade and an Infantry Brigade.

Brigadier General Sadequzzaman visited many countries around the Globe including China, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Liberia, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone and USA. He is a para trooper and also an underwater diver. Reading books and sports are his hobby.

88 EMPLOYMENT OF BANGLADESHI FEMALE WORKERS ABROAD: A SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Joint Secretary Abdul Latif Khan, ndc

Introduction

Overseas employment has become one of the livelihood alternatives for Bangladeshi female workers with poorer economic condition. Women from Bangladesh migrate for temporary work in mostly semi-skilled category mainly as domestic aide, cleaners and garments workers in the countries of Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and South East Asian countries. Any women between age of 25-38 years with minimum grade III education level can take up overseas employment. Bangladeshi women mostly economically and socially susceptible in social and gender based discriminations migrate for a better livelihood, despite of many limitations and uneasiness. Being involved in the low skilled service sectors the existing labor laws in most of the destination countries generally do not protect female domestic workers in this unregulated sector of the labor market as they are not considered employees, as a result they are excluded and not protected under any other national law. Sometime Bangladeshi female domestic overseas workers face physical and mental torture and also become the victim of sexual abuse. A few Bangladeshi skilled women are also engaged in overseas employment mostly as doctor, engineer and teacher. Normally they are not vulnerable in their work place.

Female migrants are also in a position to develop their economic condition by remittance and to ensure social status and become empowered in the family and the society. But they remain isolated from their husband, children and become frustrated, sometimes they fall under image crisis. Under this situation the study has been conducted to analyze the overall situation

89 Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio-Economic Analysis of migrant female workers of Bangladesh, their problems, prospects and impact to the socio-economic context.

Literature Review

A few studies have been conducted by researchers in different period on female migrant workers. The research study of Nurul Islam, A.K.M Ahsan Ullah, Gazi Rukhsana, Ziaul Haque, Elma Chowdhury have been reviewed. The studies identified the gender discrimination and migration scenario at the country of origin and destination. The overall findings of the studies are as follows.

There are economic and social factors that work as catalyst and encourage women to migrate. “Zero migration cost” for domestic workers in the GCC and Arab States, lower migration cost for women compared to men, visible changes in the community due to remittance inflow encourage women to migrate. Besides, women’s desire for economic advancement in a poverty stricken situation, social factors plays equally important role for many women to take migration decision. Women with low livelihood skills are often result of gender discrimination in almost every sector of the society. Many women migrant workers see it as a temporary escape from unhappy family life or social situation. Bangladeshi women use their social network as sources for their information. Spouses are major source of information for the married women. In other cases, relatives and neighbors are trusted source for information. Women tend to access loan from maternal family members and in some cases to money lenders with interest. Their economic and social situation matches with increasing the demand for domestic workers in the destination countries which require less education and some skills as housekeeper and caregiver. Gender remains an area of great concern in most of the destination countries for Bangladeshi women migrant workers. Bangladeshi female workers often face tough working environment. Since they take up jobs as housemaids/ housekeepers in private homes or cleaners in public buildings and offices,

90 their rights are often being ignored and they are vulnerable to any sort of abuse and exploitations. Since they are considered as low or semi-skilled workers, and their isolation at workplace makes them more vulnerable and exposed to low safety and security standards resulting illness, injuries, harassment, torture, abuse and low wage. In most destination countries, women migrants are treated by the authorities as workers with limited or no legal rights. In some cases of exploitation and abuse are observed and the judicial system is not always construed in favor of the abused workers.

Women migrant workers often report that physical and verbal abuse by employers or male co-worker is common in the daily life of a domestic worker abroad. In some cases children of the household are also part of the play and harass or abuse women. Besides physical and mental violence, safety issue is a major concern for women workers and less discussed due to lack of protection mechanism in place and bit’s sensitivity.

Methodology

The study has analyzed secondary data, literature review and interview followed by the general questions about the socio economic condition, education, the opportunities of visa, migration cost, the challenges and experiences during the period of overseas employment, vulnerabilities, salary and remittance sending residential arrangements etc.

Factual data and information has been collected from BMET database and that has been used. Focus has been given on the following groups:

• Potential new overseas bound female workers; • Returnee female who are preparing to be engaged in overseas employment again; • Families of the female migrant workers. • Practical job experience and case studies have been discussed in the report as a tool to analyze overall socio-economic aspects of the female migrant workers.

91 Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio-Economic Analysis

Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad

Employment of Bangladeshi female workers abroad is a subfield of total overseas employment of Bangladesh. According to the preview of overseas employment and migrants act, 2013 under section 2(3), female overseas workers are:

• Bangladeshi female workers who are preparing to leave the country for overseas employment in a destination country. • Those female workers who are already engaged in overseas employment. • Female workers who have already returned from the country of destination after completion of contacted work or without work.

Overseas employment for female workers of Bangladesh officially took into place since 1991. At that year only 2189 female workers had been migrated for overseas employment as contractual labor forces. After that female overseas employment is a regular basis continuous process and it has become an important field of employment for Bangladeshi female workers. In the year 2018, number of 101695 female workers have been migrated in different countries for overseas employment in different categories and it is 17% of total migration. Since inception more than 0.9 million Bangladeshi female workers have been engaged in overseas employment.

Female Workers on the Way to Destination

Overseas Employment of Semi-Skilled Workers Bangladeshi Female Workers

92 Source: BMET Database.

Causes of Overseas Employment for Bangladeshi Female Workers

Bangladeshi female workers take decision towards overseas employment for many reasons. The core reasons are-

• Women workforce is the integral part of overall manpower of Bangladesh and to that context prevailing unemployment situation in the country is an important cause for female workers to choose overseas employment.

• The unskilled and semi-skilled female workers of Bangladesh are motivated to be engaged in overseas employment for their poor socio- economic condition. So to get rid of poverty, they become interested to avail the opportunity of overseas employment.

• Unhappy family life is also responsible for female workers to be involved in overseas employment process.

• Skilled female workers choose overseas employment as a better option for higher income which can provide them a better life and socio- economic status in future.

93 Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio-Economic Analysis

• Present Globalization and openness is a pull factor for women to prefer overseas employment as a better career with higher range of earning which can provide them a better living standard.

• Lower/free migration cost also encourages female workers towards overseas employment with the same type of occupation which are applicable for them in the native country.

• Sometimes female workers become the victim of circumstances by intermediaries/brokers to be engaged in overseas employment and that happens for unawareness of the illiterate female workers.

• Bangladeshi female workers are also misguided to take decision for overseas employment which may not be conducive for them. In that case, as a push factor family members or relatives may inspire them to be engaged in overseas employment.

Scope for Female Workers in Overseas Employment

Overseas employment for Bangladeshi female workforce is almost in some specific sectors of some countries of the Globe. It is mainly confined to the profession of housekeeping, caregivers, hospital aides, cleaning labors, garments and other factory workers and to some extent nursing. Apart from these, some highly qualified women may take part in overseas employment with high salary as doctors, engineers and university teachers but it is very rare in number and not significant. About 85% female workers are engaged in overseas employment as house keepers and this category of female workforce come from the poor socio-economic profile. The occupation based country of destination for female workers are as under:

94 Occupation Sl. No. Country of destination categories Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United House keeper, Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, A. Caregiver and cleaner Oman, Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain & Hong Kong. B. Garments worker Jordan, Egypt, Mauritius. Nurses and medical C. GCC countries and others. technician

The minimum wages of female migrants are between US dollar 250 to US dollar 400 for house maids, caregivers and cleaning workers. For other occupations like skilled garment worker, medical technicians, nurses the range of wages are similar to the male worker and that can be US dollar 400 to 600 and it also varies in respect of the destination countries.

Overseas Employment Process for Bangladeshi Female Workers

The Government of Bangladesh is very keen over the issues of sending female workers abroad. The female workers undergo overseas employment through strong scrutinized activity. The Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) is the core Government organization and sometimes act as a recruiting agent sending female human resources to abroad. Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services limited (BOESL) a public company is also responsible for sending female workers abroad. These two organizations send female workers abroad under Government to Government (G to G) process. Apart from that some scrutinized recruiting agents having strong capability are allowed to send female workers abroad. For housekeeping sector, one month training by Government arrangement is compulsory. Before departure, pre briefing for female workers is a mandatory option. The female overseas employment for a company of the destination country is a group-based approach where the workers are being

95 Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio-Economic Analysis selected from Government database. Overseas employment opportunity obtained by personal arrangement from the relation nexus is an individual phenomenon and that also should be processed by a recruiting agency which must ensure guarantee of job and security for female workers. To some extent female overseas employment may take place under separate arrangement between the Government of Bangladesh and the country of destination. Final emigration clearance from BMET by issuing digital smart card is compulsory for all female migrants.

Vulnerabilities of Bangladeshi Overseas Female Workers

Vulnerabilities of Bangladeshi female overseas workers at different stage of the migration process are very common and without control. These are as follows:

• Stage of recruitment and pre-departure. It includes illegal recruitment and trafficking, excessive fee (migration cost), false visa, work permit and employment contract paper.

• During working and living period in the country of destination. During working period, female workers often face violation of employment contract, different type of mental and physical abuse, lack of safety and security, health care and safety net, hindrance of communication with the family members and the burden with extra loaded work without any over time allowance.

• Termination of contract: Sometimes employer terminates job contract suddenly and illegally if the female worker is not engaged in any activity according to the need and desire of the employer. It often compels female worker to run away from the house of the sponsor and become illegal and vulnerable in destination.

• In case of female domestic workers, there is lack of lawful coverage in the country of destination and ill treatment as the occupation of slavery.

96 • Lack of proper opportunity for sending remittance to native country is a detrimental issue for female migrants.

• Sometimes female workers loss their innocence by sexual violence in the country of destination under confined environment.

Impact of Overseas Employment on Female Workforces

• Despite bearing a lot of problems, female workers of Bangladesh have been earning notable remittance through overseas employment. The income of female migrants contribute to the socio-economic emancipation of their family life vis-a-vis to the overall development of the nation. • Overseas employment reduces the unemployment situation of unskilled and less-skilled female workers. • It creates opportunity for higher income of female workers which make them solvent and by that capacity female workers become empowered in decision making process within their family domain and society. • During overseas employment, female workers used to use modern household appliances and that make them skilled human capital for native country. • Overseas employment make the female workers smarter to adopt with the changing situation and reduce frustration and social obstacle.

In some cases, female workers after returning from the overseas job become stigmatized for embracing fragile condition of their family life regarding the derailed condition of their children and the certain deviation of their husbands. Their absence may create bad reputation among the neighbor and society. The returnee female migrants also are not aware and capable of appropriate use of remittance by investment and the way for future savings as a means for economic protection. This ignorance may lead them again to the poor economic conditions.

97 Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio-Economic Analysis

Information and Data Collection

Related information and data have been collected and collated through structured questionaries’ from the persons assembled under the purview of BMET. These are focused on-

• Returnee female migrants and some of them who intend to go abroad again. • New aspirant female workers who are on the way to be involved in overseas employment. • The female migrants’ family members.

The number of respondents in three categories are 32, 18 & 04 respectively. During the interview different types of information and data has been accumulated to analyze the related particulars as under:

• Personal Information. • Educational qualification. • Salary. • Profile of the family. • Problem faced at the country of destination. • Other benefits. • Workload & overtime allowance. • Development of family from overseas income. • Training for the workplace. • Any harassment/abuse at the work place. • Benefits earned from the destination country. • Reasons for Overseas employment decision. • Source of overseas employment. • How the overseas employment cost was managed. • Way of remitting income. • Opportunity of communicating with the family and the local embassy of Bangladesh.

98 Information and Data Analysis

Collected information and data from the stakeholders significantly shows that in most of the cases the dependents of overseas female workers gained better livelihood due to the female workers who have been engaged in overseas employment. In this study, the situation of the female migrants’ family, it was observed that almost 78% are consisted of 04 members, 15% with 4-5 members and 7% are with 5-6 members. It obviously denotes the liability of the female migrant workers that bound them to be engaged in overseas employment.

It is found that husband is the head of the family of the female migrants covering 48%, next father leads 50% as the guardian of the family. Other family guardians are mother, father in law and mother in law. Some social discontent and negative approach from the family in engaging overseas employment is also common for the women workforces. But the overall data denotes that positive changing attitude from the family for encouraging female workers to be involved in overseas employment. The sources of overseas employment for female workers are their relatives as most of the workers informed. For arranging overseas employment cost, 62.5% responded that they arranged the money from their own initiatives. Only 9% sold land and others used their resources like gold. From the close maternal relatives, 16% of the women migrant workers arranged overseas employment cost.

The flow of remittance sent by the female workers are encouraging. During interview it is observed that 25% sent Tk. 2.5 to 3.00 lac only. 12.5% of the migrants could send about 3 to 4 lac and 31.25% of the migrants managed to remit more than 4.5 lac and it crossed 5 lac plus 25%% and 1.5 to 2.5 lac only 6.25%. It indicates the success in overseas employment regarding a portion of female workers. 85% female workers used to send money to their family frequently after two to six months. So it determines that regular necessity of the migrant workers are being met by their remittance. It is observed that 90% of the female migrants opened their bank account before leaving from their country to destination. By

99 Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio-Economic Analysis conducting interviews, it appears that most of the female workers take part in overseas employment due to unemployment, poverty and aspiration of better life in future. Taking care of minor children is a sensitive aspect for the female migrants and that issue sometimes compel them to come back to native country as a result of homesickness’ issue. It is found that around 44% children are taken care of by their father after the departure of their mother and in other cases kids are cared by their maternal grandmothers. About opportunity of communication with the members of family over cell phone, 81.25% workers could contact family easily. The important sensation over female exodus is exhorting to physical harassment and mental abuse and also exploitations. On the other hand to the answer of the questions, bulk of the female migrants expressed that the extent of violation and other problems are very less.

Information Based on Practical (working) Experience and Socio- Economic Analysis of Female Migrants

The researcher served as Counselor (labor) to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Kuwait for more than 04 (four) years and completed my assignment there at the mid of January, 2019. During my working period in Kuwait, the researcher was directly involved with the overall welfare activities of more than 3,000 (three thousand) Bangladeshi female workers who have been working in the country mostly in some particular sectors like cleaner, hospital aide, housekeeper and nurse in few number. Out of the total female workers around 85% are involved in cleaning occupation. The female workers are employed with the companies named Wale AL Nasib Cleaning & Contacting Company Limited, Tanjibco Cleaning Company Limited and Abdul Hamid Cleaning and Contacting Limited Company. Under the companies, some female workers have been working for more than 10-15 years continuously. Under Abdul Hamid cleaning company, female workers have been working for more than three years. The researcher along with other embassy officials as part of our official assignment frequently visited the hostels of the female workers, their work places and looked after their overall working condition and other

100 related matters. Housekeeping workers sometimes would communicated with the embassy and informed their different issues. During that period the following conditions had been observed:

• The female workers have been passing their employment with regular salary and over time allowance.

• They are conversant in local Arabic language and can communicate in that language frequently with the local people and co-workers.

• They can easily send remittances to native country and they do it monthly by banking channel.

• The female workers have easy opportunity for communication with Bangladesh embassy and with the members of their family.

• The female workers are economically sound and they remitted notable amount of money to Bangladesh and that is not less than Tk. 30,000/- (Thirty Thousand) per month.

• Some of the female workers have brought their sons to Kuwait through the co-operation of individual Kuwaiti sponsor as driver, cook or house boy.

• The female workers are getting medical facility and they live in the hostels of the companies.

• Domestic female workers in Kuwait are very limited and they took the occupation even 25 years before. The workers are well adjusted with the family domain of Kuwaiti families and complaints are lesser.

• Having these positive aspects, some remarkable and negative direction had been observed and disputes/allegation against some female workers had been placed in the embassy in different times.

• Most of the female workers do not visit Bangladesh even within three years and so their family conditions are vulnerable. They have lost their family life and most of the cases they are divorced. Some female

101 Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio-Economic Analysis

workers are engaged in extra marital activities with the native male co-worker and with the citizen of other countries. So by the overseas employment, the economic condition of the female workers has been improved but most of the workers have lost their family life and their children are not properly guided and educated. It has been observed that sometimes a few female workers are sexually abused mainly by their co-workers.

Case Studies Case Study-01

A Bangladeshi female worker named Nazma Begum wife of Abdul Aziz, Upozilla- Agoilzhara, District-Barisal has been working in Jordan as a domestic worker. The family members of Nazma Begum was interviewed and got the relevant information of her. She went to Jordan before 06(six) years and her employment visa had been arranged by one of her relatives staying in Jordan. Her husband is a small shopkeeper and they have one daughter and one son.The financial condition of her family was not sufficient for their livelihood and unhappy situation was going on. Nazma Begum was not employed and remained as housewife. So for the betterment of future life and to get scape from the unhappy family life she took decision to be engaged in overseas employment. She obtained 21 days housekeeping training from the women technical training center (TTC) of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET).She left Bangladesh for Jordan in 2013. At that time her daughter was at the age of 11 years and her son was at the age of 8 years. She left her son and daughter to her mother. Her husband was also to some extent involved to take care of her two children. The migration cost was Tk.40,000 in total and that was managed partially by her and by the assistance of her parent’s family. During her 6 years overseas employment, the following socio-economic scenario has been occurred:

102 • She has been serving in the country of destination without hassle. Her monthly salary is about taka 25,000 and she can send money to her family. Immediately after migration she faced some problems in regard to language, using household appliances and suffered homesickness specially for her children. • She is sending money to her mother by banking channel and she opened a bank account in her own name and also deposits money to her bank account. • By her remittance her mother earned some assets for her and maintains subsistence needs of her children. • She came to Bangladesh for one time after completion of her three years job. During this period the trust and relation with her husband became worsen. • She divorced her husband and her husband got married again. • Her children become helpless during the absence of her mother although they are being looked after by their Grandmother. Her children do not fell any financial problem as they are maintained by the earnings of their migrant mother. • The daughter of Nazma Begum obtained education up to class v and got married at the age of 16 years. The marital expenditure is managed by earning of mother and daughter is happily passing her conjugal life. • Her son is now at the age of 14 years. He is deviated from his education and now living in Dhaka with the engagement of a hostel boy. • Nazma Begum is financially solvent and honored by the members of her family and relations but she lost her family life and is not eager to come back in Bangladesh. • The above delineated things describe the present socio-economic context of the said female migrant worker Nazma Begum.

103 Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio-Economic Analysis

Case Study-02

A female worker named Sheuli Begum having at the age of 35 years went to Saudi Arabia in 2016 as a domestic worker. She obtained housekeeping training from Women Technical Training center of BMET and availed of the overseas employment by a broker known to her. Migration cost was Tk. 60,000 (sixty thousand) and she managed that by selling her personal property. She was told about salary range up to Tk. 30,000 per month. After coming to Saudi Arabia she was engaged in a job as a domestic worker at the family of a Saudi sponsor(Employer called Kafil). The working place was in the city named Habten, very near to the border area of Kuwait. She was deprived of getting salary, safe housing and personal security. So she was very unhappy and her condition was very vulnerable. The local Embassy of Bangladesh was very far away from her working place and she was unable to communicate with anybody including her family members. Wife of her employer is a Kuwaiti woman who has been married to Saudi citizen. After 6 months of her confined life she was fortunate to come to Kuwait with the wife of her employer. During the stay period in Kuwait, within 5 days Sheuli took the opportunity to run away from the house in collaboration with a Bangladeshi worker and took shelter at the embassy of Bangladesh in Kuwait. At that time I was working in the embassy. The embassy had provided proper shelter and ensure her security. Sheuli was interviewed by the lady employee of Bangladesh embassy and inquisitively came to know that Sheuli lost everything. Embassy took care of her and offered job in Kuwait but she was in stigma and afraid of staying in any foreign country even if it is safe and sound. At that stage she was sent to Bangladesh by the financial arrangement of the embassy. So the above case study denote the real situation of female migrant workers to the context of socio-economic cost.

104 Conclusion

Overseas employment of Bangladeshi female workers has either positive or negative impacts on the societal and family domain of the migrants. Most of the females migrate in other countries for the improvement of their family condition and a better life of their family members but some of them can succeed. Many of the female migrants come back with a very bad experience as many of them fall victim to different oppressions and abusing. In some cases migration of mother increases the family income which creates opportunity to greater health, education facility. Sometime children of the female migrants are sexually abused and harassed physically, psychologically, emotionally and also neglected by their careers. Women sacrifices their life abroad for their family and also suffer from different family problems such as their husbands sometimes get involved with extra marital affairs with other women in their absence although most of the husbands try their best to cope with the absence of their wives. Aside from the negative impacts, female migration has positive impact on society as it increases the decision making power of women in the family and society after getting financially solvent. So, it can be determined that female overseas employment has both remarkable impacts either positive or negative on the social and of their family life.

Overseas Employment for Bangladeshi female workers can never be volatile. The country of destination must have to be friendly and accommodative for the female workers of Bangladesh and that should be assessed according to the need based demand and supply. In regards to sending female workers there should be a separate treaty or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Bangladesh and the receiving country and accordingly employment contract paper should be made clearly where all issues relating to female overseas employment would be delineated. Appropriate social and economic re-integration programs can be ensured through making liaison with small investment scopes arranging bank loan for SME initiatives and co-operative society can be formed consisting of

105 Employment of Bangladeshi Female Workers Abroad: A Socio-Economic Analysis returnee female migrant workers for their sustainable socio-economic development.

References

1. Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), website: http://www.bmet.org.bd

2. Huda, S. (2014). Situation of women migrants in Bangladesh. Dhaka: BOMSA.

3. ILO. (2014). Gender and migration from Bangladesh: Mainstreaming Migration into the national development plans from a gender perspective. Dhaka: International Labour Organization.

4. Islam, Dr. Md Nurul, Study report on women migrant situation, 2011

5. Islam, S., Parvin, S., & Kalam, A. (2013). Socio-economic Impacts of International Migration in Bangladesh. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development.

6. Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, website: www.probashi.gov.bd

Author

Abdul Latif Khan, ndc is a Joint Secretary to the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and at present he has been serving as Additional Director General (ADG), Department of Labour, Ministry of Labour and Employment. He is a member of Bangladesh Civil Service, 8th batch and joined in Co-operative cadre on 20 December, 1989. He served at different positions and places of Government Service. Some of the positions are: Divisional Joint Registrar, Chattogram Division, Co- operative Department, Ministry of LGRD and Co-operatives, Deputy

106 Secretary, Ministry of Expatriate’s Welfare and Overseas Employment, Director (Emigration/ Employment), Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) under the same ministry and Counsellor (Labour), Embassy of Bangladesh in Kuwait. Mr. Khan was born in Patuakhali District on 1st June 1963. He passed S.S.C and H.S.C examination with science background in 1979 and 1981 respectively. He obtained his Hon’s and Master’s degree from University of Dhaka at the Department of International Relations. He completed National Defence Course (NDC) in 2019 from National Defence College, Bangladesh. In his service career, he took part in different training programmes home and abroad and some of the notable courses are: Advanced Course on Administrations and Development (ACAD), Managing at The Top Training (MATT). He obtained ‘Co-operative Management and Development Course’ Certificate from Co-operative College of Malaysia, Kualalumpur and attended training Courses at ‘Singapore Civil Service college’ and ‘Beijing Civil Service Academy’ as the part of MATT and ACAD respectively. He travelled many countries across the world. As a student of International Relations, he has keen interest over international Politics and issues. He is the author of a well-known book “International Organizations and Affairs”.

107 THE GUIDING SIGNIFICANCE OF SUN TZU’S THE ART OF WAR TO CHINA’S CURRENT NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY

Colonel Zhou Mingjun, ndc

Introduction

The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military book written by one Chinese ancient general Sun Tzu in the late Spring and Autumn Period (Cho-yun, 1990) (roughly 5th century BC). The book contained strategic thoughts and tactical skills with many aspects of military warfare in ancient Chinese war. The Art of War by Sun Tzu is the first complete theoretical system of military in ancient China, which is respected by a lot of Chinese and foreign strategists, statesmen, such as the Chinese revolutionary Chairman Mao Zedong, Japanese daimyō Takeda Shingen, Vietnamese general Vo Nguyen Giap, and American military general Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. They have benefited a lot from the book, and the book has been practically conducted in many fields and influenced both Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond (Donald G, 1995). It not only expounds the rich military thoughts, but also contains a deep consideration to national security. Security is the foundation of the national survival and development, and national security is a sovereign state in the anarchic international environment for its own survival fundamental demand. Security concept is the understanding of the international security. The security concept of one country would directly determine its security strategy. Under the development of globalization and informatization, the international structure is undergoing great changes. The structure of international strategy is generating upheaval, the range and width beyond any period in history, have a certain impact on the international political landscape.

108 Review of the Literature

The Art of War has been researching thousands years universally with a result of hundreds of thousands research papers. One of the most important research institute with the Strategic security about The Art of War in China is the Binzhou College which concentrates more than half of the research contribution and stands for the highest research standard in that domain. Another important research organization is the International Academic Research Conference of The Art of War which has been hold every four years since 1989 in China. The earliest research of The Art of War started in Japan. There are almost translation of The Art of War with hundreds of languages in the world. The study and research subjects of The Art of War are gradually transcending from the early military stage to governance, business, politic, diplomatic and any other such domains with a universal influence over the world. The typical research results are those The Art of War for Executives by Donald G. Krause, Modelling The Art of War by Rawjee, Learning the secret to The Art of War by Roland K. Yeo.

The research which combined the security strategy and The Art of War together is not as many as the research with the security strategy and The Art of War separately. Some important job has been done both in China and abroad with the typical books and papers as follows: The Chinese Security Strategy Structure by Yang Yi, The Chinese National Security Strategy with a Global View by Zhang Wenmu, The Closely Relay Times and The Chinese Security Strategy by Ruo Pu, The Framework of Chinese Strand Strategy by Men Honghua, Strategy and Diplomacy by Song Dexing, Discussion of State Security Strategy in The Art of War by Zhang Yun, Judging the International Security by The Art of War by Li Junji, Chinese Peacefully Rising Needs to use The Art of War by Chen Kunfu, The Peaceful Ideas in The Art of War by Ma Ludong, China and Coexistence: Beijing’s National Security Strategy for the Twenty-First Century by Anderson David A, The U.S. National Security Strategy: Policy

109 The Guiding Significance of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to China’s Current National Security Strategy

Process, Problems by Richard B. Doyle, Russia’s National Security Strategy to 2020: A Great Power in the Making by Sophia Dimitrakopoulou and Dr. Andrew Liaropoulos. In the new era, a lot of research should be done with The Art of War to settle with the changing world and the unstable international relationships. Looking for an answer in The Art of War to deal with the security strategy problems is of great meaning and the results will definitely play an important role with the sustainable and peaceful development of the world.

Research Methodology

The research framework developed through the literature review focused on the internal relationship between The Art of War and China’s current security strategy. The understanding of The Art of War especially the strategic thoughts is the fundamental of the research. The research topic is analyzed both historically and practically. On one hand, the research is expected to find out the strategic security thoughts in The Art of War. On the other hand, the Chinese current international status and the strategic security challenges should be judged carefully and considering. The relationship between them just mentioned above should be taken out. Then the research would find out the historical meaning and the practical value of The Art of War in the strategic security domain.

The whole study is an indirect literature based research, it involves re- analyzing, interpreting and reviewing past research results. The ingredients of the research are books, journals, article, blogs, published and unpublished thesis, monograph, organizational reports. Internal documents and reports of Chinese government have been studied as one important information source including consultation with foreign policy experts. The study focuses on how the strategic security thoughts in The Art of War influence of China’s current security strategy, and then draw a conclusion of China’s security strategy perspective.

110 The Strategic Thoughts in The Art of War Against the Military Violence and be Serious to War

In Sun Tzu’s strategic thought, one of the core spirit was firmly opposed to use the military force and sick of talking about the battle field fighting. In the chapter “Waging War”: “Those who do not thoroughly comprehend the dangers inherent in employing the army are incapable of truly knowing the potential advantages of military actions.” He told the rulers and the generals don’t be in favor of military force and always be cautious to military warfare. In chapter “Planning Offensives”: “Thus the highest realization of warfare is to attack the enemy’s plans; next is to attack their alliances; next to attack their army; and the lowest is to attack their fortified cities.” In his idea, putting the military force into the battle field to fight with the enemy was the lowest resolution of the security problem. He thought that waging a war to settle the security problem and get the national interest is totally not a wisdom way. He proposed the rulers to settle the conflicts and disputes in a peaceful and non-military way. In his philosophy, one country cannot maintain peace by military force forever. The power relied on the military force will make the country to face a serious security problem. There is no doubt one country’s national security relied on military force is a real security threat to its neighbors.

The Importance of Diplomacy and Dialogue

Sun Tzu pointed out the idea in the chapter “Planning Offensives”: “Thus the highest realization of warfare is to attack the enemy’s plans; next is to attack their alliances.” He thought the best way to use military force is to destroy the enemy’s invasion plan, then the secondary is to use the diplomacy method. He regarded that those using the strategic and diplomatic skillfully are very important in the military domain. To win without war cannot affect the peaceful state of both countries and the people’s life in the countries, which is a “Win-Win” situation. In his idea, when the countries deal with

111 The Guiding Significance of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to China’s Current National Security Strategy the international affairs, they should pay more attention to be strategically skillful and use the diplomatic method to shun the directly fighting with each other. He explained the details with “attack the alliances”. He believed that the leaders should use the diplomatic method firstly and positively on a strategic level to settle the disputes and confrontations. He advised three steps to settle the problems in the chapter “Incendiary Attacks”: “If it is not advantageous, do not move. If objectives cannot be attained, do not employ the army. Unless endangered do not engage in warfare.” Through obeying the three steps, “attack plans” and “attack alliances” can play an important role with settling the problems.

Peace upon the Military Confidence

Sun Tzu thought that the countries should increase the cooperation and build the confidence. In his times, he formulated the initial conceptions “cooperate security” and “common security”. To his understanding, one country should connect its own national security with the adjacent neighboring countries’ security together rather than pursue its own national security solely. The entities in the national community should work together to seek the common national interests and the common national security through a cooperative and friendly way. In modern times international community, the disputation between countries are more and more complicated, one country cannot solve the problem without dialogues and negotiations. Countries rely on each other politically and economically, there are more and more common national interests and pursuits, thus the cooperative way is very necessary and fundamental. Seeking the common national interests and be tolerant to the differences, be confident and trusting each other for the common aim to attain the national security. This strategic national security thought was based on his reasonable thinking and practicing.

112 Comprehensive Strength: Prepared One Wins upon Unprepared One

Sun Tzu pointed out this in the chapter “Military Disposition”: “In antiquity those that excelled in warfare first made themselves unconquerable in order to await the moment when the enemy could be conquered.” He stressed that one country should formulate the qualification thus cannot be conquered. The “qualification” here means the national comprehensive strength rather than the mere military strength. Sun Tzu thought that the military warfare would be a huge consumption with the national strength. He believed that only the leaders or the generals who get a thoroughly good understanding of the disadvantages of the military warfare can really cherish the national security and the importance of national security to one country. In the chapter “Employ Spies”, he computed the finance and consumption of production in the warfare. Any leader or general just want to wage a warfare without neither thinking the probability of winning or computing the whole consumption of the warfare, they are leading the security situation to an even worse side. He stressed that before waging warfare, one country should have a certain national comprehensive strength and be well prepared. To his understanding, he defined the contents of national comprehensive strength in the ancient time in the chapter “Military Disposition”.

The Importance of Spiritual Power

Sun Tzu thought that one country’s behaviors in the international community are not only depended on the leader’s rational cogitation, but also influenced by the leader’s irrational emotion, feeling and fighting spirit. In the chapter “Waging War”, Sun Tzu said “Thus what motivates men to slay the enemy is anger.” In the chapter “Military Combat”, he said “The spirit of the Three Armies can be snatched away; the commanding general’s mind can be seized.” Sun Tzu thought among the methods of

113 The Guiding Significance of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to China’s Current National Security Strategy conquering a country, the highest is to conquer the leader’s will and the lowest is to conquer the fortified cities. In his mind, when one country competes with others in the international circumstance it should not only to compete with visible material factors, but also to shake the invisible spiritual factors. In the chapter “Waging War”, “Therefore, a general who understands warfare is Master of Fate for the people, ruler of the state’s security or endangerment.” He pointed out that how critically important the personalities of leaders that can affect the people’s fate and the national security. The great leaders could always put the right person in the right place, and they plan firstly and make an appropriate national security strategy and diplomatic principles waiting for the precious chance to have things done with judging the situation accurately.

Understanding of Oneself and Opponents

In the chapter “Vacuity and Substance”, “Thus one who excels at warfare compels men and is not compelled by other men.” To contain the opponents countries and not to be contained by them which means to hold the initiatives in dealing with the conflicts. The leader can make a strategic decision directly based on the understanding of the economic strength, the military force, the fighting wills of soldiers, all those factors of both sides. When the leaders formulate the national security strategy, they must have a good understanding of the international community situation and design the plan very carefully and meticulously. Sun Tzu thought that one should attack the enemy’s weak points suddenly rather than to fight at the strong points. At the same time, one should think to change his own weak points to have certain advantages. Attack the enemy unexpectedly and sabotage the enemy at the place where the enemy has no defense. Then, one can await the moment to win and get a total control of the whole situation. In the chapter “Military Disposition”, “Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with the enemy.” Sun Tzu advised that one should get oneself to be invisible by deception and make the enemy transparent all the time based on a good intelligence mechanism.

114 China’s National Security Strategy under the Influence of The Art of War Emphasizing on Prevention Primacy

“Warfare is the greatest affair of the state, the basis of life and death, the way to survival or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed.” China wants to maintain a peaceful internal and external environment to keep the “strategic development opportunity period”, so it is trying to prevent any kind of war and to avoid the crisis, conflicts which may affect the development of the country. China wants to establish cooperative partnerships with all the countries, and to share responsibilities in defense of world peace. China has been maintaining a new neighborhood relationships through improving economic and political ties with the neighboring countries. Chinese government believes that the national security is beginning at everyone’s doorstep, and a friendly neighborhood can make a stable region, then creating a harmonious world. A broader, forward looking framework and security mechanism should be generated and then the disputes can be resolved without confrontation and crisis. A no-win situation or the escalating with crisis must be avoided. China has been conducting a national defense policy and it is defensive in nature by striking only after being attacked. China also insists the “no first use” nuclear policy and commits that will never use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against countries or regions without nuclear weapons.

Persevering with Peaceful Cooperation

“Subjugating the enemy’s army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence. Thus the highest realization of warfare is to attack the enemy’s plans; next is to attack their alliances; next to attack their army; and the lowest is to attack their fortified cities.” China holds the principle “non- alignment, non-confrontation and not targeting a third party”, adheres to the bilateral and multilateral dialogues to exchange concerned issues not

115 The Guiding Significance of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to China’s Current National Security Strategy only in Asia but also the world widely. The deeper the cooperation, less the possibility of confrontation and conflict. And China cannot enjoy the security alone if its neighbors are suffering the insecurity. Participating in multilateral regional affairs actively, China collaborates with corresponding countries to settle the issues such as financial crisis, climate change and other global security issues very well by different organizations and frameworks. China is also cooperating with other countries in international peacekeeping operations, disaster relief work and emergency rescue and humanitarian missions.

Upholding the Capability of Hard Power

“Thus the strategy for employing the army: do not rely on their not coming, but depend on us having the means to await them. Do not rely on them not attacking, but depend on us having an unassailable position.” China promised that it would never fire the first shot, but this is based on the premise that it can fire the second retaliatory shot. China is trying to catch up with the technology development and the doctrinal evolution in the new global military revolution. Then it can have the ability to deter the enemy from attacking and to respond quickly with preemptive attacks, or to defeat aggression with a secondary attack. China has committed to solving disputes through peaceful methods. China does not want to get the priority with arm race with any other countries or to seek the military supremacy. China is also upgrading its maritime strategy towards safeguarding maritime sovereignty and overseas invest interests. China is changing the Navy Force of PLA from near-sea force into dark sea force and expanding the scope of open ocean defense. The PLA is engaging in enhancing the mobile projection capability of the Strategic Missile Force to deal with the shortages in the number of strategic nuclear submarines.

116 Prioritizing the Comprehensive Strength

“Therefore, structure it according to the following five factors: evaluate it comparatively through estimations, and seek out its true nature. The first is termed the Tao, the second Heaven, the third Earth, the fourth generals, the fifth Laws.” China thinks that the comprehensive national security including safety in political, cultural, economic, natural resource and information fields, as well as overseas interests, which is not only for the statebut also for the life and property of all the individuals. Any national security threats, what levels, which fields, should be settled by comprehensive means flexibly and strategically. China should improve the methods of safeguarding national security by using a multitude of instruments and skill in a comprehensive means. As the information technology developed, the cyberspace is becoming a new national security problem. Recently, as the national political and economic reforms deepened, some social conflicts become more and more serious and mass incidents happen frequently. Those public emergencies damage the social harmony and stability which are becoming an internal security threat and may interrupt the peaceful development environment. Nowadays, in order to ensuring the common interests in the space, countries should maintain the peace order in the outer space and regulate the usage of outer space to prevent the armed conflict and militarization of it.

Conclusion

Chinese national security strategy should be changed from the concern of survival to that of development. China is changing from having enough food and clothes for survival to resolving the problems of development. The core interest of China lies within the interest of development, and based upon this notion, the national security strategy of China in the 21st century should take a global view, and shift the center of gravity from maintaining national security to maintaining national development (Cao

117 The Guiding Significance of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to China’s Current National Security Strategy

Bingjin, 2006). It means that China should be shifted from maintaining traditional homeland security to defending the interest of political and economic security which is integrated with that of the world. The mode of maintaining national security should be changed from homeland defense to a positive and open mode in which it can actively progress, facilitate extensive contacts, and promote all-directional dialogues.

Chinese national security defense system should be constructed to meet the need of national security strategy. To keep pace with the development of national security strategy, a “comprehensive, developing and open” defense system of national security must be constructed. The so-called “comprehensive” means that the political, economic, military, scientific, cultural, ecological, geographical, and other elements of a nation and their mutual intrinsic relationships should be considered and analyzed comprehensively and systematically when establishing the defense system of national security. Long term interests of a nation should be considered from a profound and long term perspective and the development of science, technology and international politics meanwhile should be fully recognized.

Chinese national security strategy must be favorable and acceptable to the international community. China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and sticks to the principle of non-alliance, non-seeking of hegemony, and non-expansion. China suggests that all countries, big or small, rich or poor, should be treated equal, and that power politics and hegemony should be firmly opposed to. Under the guidance of the principles of national security strategy, China should not only hide its capacities and keep forging. Although sticking to the policy of non-alliance, China can strive for cooperation. Multidimensional diplomacy can be employed to defuse or eliminate the potential threats to the national security of China so as to eventually create a favorable international and friendly environment for the peaceful development of China.

118 The realization of national security strategy still depends on the maintaining of military security. Under the circumstances that security situation still remains grave, China’s national security will not be guaranteed unless its military can keep pace with challenges. For the sake of national security and development, the Chinese leaders must have intense awareness of danger and crisis. While taking the economic construction as the center, China must change her mentalities and concepts, and think from a new perspective under the historical background of the times. Special attention should be paid to expediting the process of the modernization of weapons and equipment so as to possess various effective measures to deter and defeat enemies through the means of optimizing the advantageous aspects, forging the inferior aspects, and making up for vacant aspects.

References

1. Bingjin, Cao. Liu Youcai, Zhu Deli, “Fundamental Framework for National security Strategy in the 21st Century”, Jol, China Military Science, vol.6, 2006.

2. China’s Core Interests Are Not to Be Challenged, People’s Daily, 25 May 2015. As of December 15, 2017: http://politics.people.com. cn/n/2015/0525/c70731-27053920.html

3. Chinese Government Statement on the Complete Prohibition and Total Destruction of Nuclear Weapons. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

4. "Chronology of China's Belt and Road Initiative". China's State Council. Retrieved 23 September 2018.

5. Deng Xiaoping, Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol.III, Beijing, People’s Press, 1993.

6. Li Jijun. The Thinking of The Art of War and the International Crisis in the 21 Century. Jol, Military History Research, 1999(1).

119 The Guiding Significance of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to China’s Current National Security Strategy

7. Lionel, Giles. The Art of War by Sun Tzu – Special Edition. Special Edition Books. 2007.

8. Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China , National Defense White Paper: The Diversified Employment of China’s Armed Forces, April 16, 2013.

9. Nye, Joseph S. Soft Power-The Means to Success in World Politics, published by Beijing University’s Publisher, 2005.

10. Pumin, Huang. A brief of Security Conception and Strategy in Chinese History. Jol. Military History Research, 2000(1): Page 103-111.

11. Qing, Lie. The compared research with The Art of War and The Theory of War. Jol, Bin Zhou Institute, 2005(5): page 111.

12. Shattuck, Thomas J. How China Dictates the Rules of the Game. Foreign Policy Research Institute.1528 Walnut Street, Suite 610 Philadelphia.

13. Statement by the Chinese Delegation at the Main Committee II of the NPT 2015 Review Conference on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and all other Weapons of Mass Destruction (4 May 2015, New York).

14. Tianliang, Xiao ed. Science of Strategy, Beijing: National Defense University Publishing House, 2015.

15. White Paper on China’s Peacefully Development (2011), The State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Sept 2011.

16. White Paper on Cultural Protection and Development in Xinjiang. The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China published on Nov 1, 2018.

120 17. Xi Jinping, “Secure a Decisive Victory in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects and Strive for the Great Success of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, Speech delivered at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, October 18, 2017, Xinhua.

18. Zhang Qingmin, National Security-The Core Strategic Security of China. 4 July, 2009.

19. Zhenwen, Yao. The Art of War and the Culture of Competition. Nei Menggu Social Science. 2008(4).

20. Zhiqiang, Wang, Zhang Yang: The Research of Crisis Concepts in The Art of War. Jol, Dong Yue Academic, 2012(8).

Author

Colonel Zhou Mingjun is a Course Member of NDC 2019. He was born on 18 May 1984 in Baiyin City of Gansu Province China. He was enrolled into the National University of Defense Technology in the year 2002. He was major in the Technology of Communication. In the year 2006, he has got the Bachelor’s Degree with Technical Science. He continued the post- graduate study in the National University of Defense Technology after graduating in 2006. Two years later, he has got the Master’s Degree of Information Technology. In 2008, he was commissioned in one regiment of the group army as a platoon leader. Since then, he served as platoon leader, company commander, battalion commander, chief of staff in regiment, vice chief of staff in brigade, and vice brigadier commander.

121 EFFICACY OF SOFT POWER IN STATE’S FOREIGN POLICY FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN THE CONTEMPORARY ENVIRONMENT

Group Captain Syed Hashmat Iqbal, ndc, fawc, psa

Introduction

The subject includes two main elements which are soft power and foreign policy. With relation to ‘Foreign Policy’, it is important to mention that humankind has faced different types of challenges in each era. Whether, it is the ancient times of nomad tribes or the modern era of Nation- States, survival lies in the interaction and not in isolation due to the human needs and multi challenges faced by the world time to time. The dynamics of the interaction could be different for different periods, however, its importance and implications could not be denied and our time is also no different. Moreover, due to change in the dynamics of national security and emerging challenges, the field of International Relations not only covers the traditional realm of interstate relations, but also the interaction between state and non-government players like think tanks, academics and most importantly civil society. The only successful polities will be those whose leaders revise their strategic perspective fundamentally, thus enabling their states to face the emerging challenges of the current era (Walton, 2007). These are the reasons that why International Relation which ultimately frames the foreign policy is highly significant in today’s world.

The other element of the subject is power and to be more specific is the ‘Soft Power’. ‘Power has always been discussed from since Thucydides, however, long history of discussions about the power has yet failed to generate much agreement and therefore, its meaning is always contested. Almost all the researches and theorists have acknowledged the importance

122 of power but they could not sort to a single comprehensive definition. On the other hand, no one also denied the prominence of power in political sciences. Power can be hard, soft and smart. “When this power is exercised through coercion or use of force, it is described as hard power and when exercised through diplomacy and attraction, it is described as soft power” (Joseph, 2004); and when both types of power are combined - it becomes smart power. Morgenthau stated that “international politics, like all politics, is a struggle for power”. He added that “whatever the ultimate aims of international politics, power is always the immediate aim” (Morgenthau, 1948).

‘Soft Power’ was first thought by Nye who proposes that this type of power is a kind of ability which can help in achieving desired objectives through attraction instead of coercion. This attraction comes from country’s culture, political ideals and foreign policies. When such policies based on attraction are viewed legitimate in the opinion of others, country’s soft power is enriched (Joseph, 1990). The question which comes to mind that in the present era - which type of power is effective and essential to build up the national image and whether every country (developed or developing) is able to exercise ‘Soft Power’ in the international arena?

Both the elements i.e. foreign policy and soft power when combined together could probably form up a new type of international relations or understanding between the countries in the coming days where matters related to human security might be given highest priority at the national level. The subject is quite complex which demands understanding of third dimension other than foreign policy and soft power - which is national security concerns in present era. “Security consists of not only military, but also political, economic, social, humanitarian and human rights and ecological aspects” (Rafeh, 2003). Therefore, other than military security, all other dimensions of security fall under non-traditional domain. By looking at this phenomenon, we get the answer to the question mentioned above that probably the ‘Soft Power’ would be a preferred option in future and it would be utilized to its optimum to gain maximum benefits

123 Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries in the Contemporary Environment as far as the future foreign policies are concerned. However, it generates another important question that utilization of ‘Soft Power’ in foreign policy matters is equally effective for the developed as well as developing countries or not.

Literature Review

During the last fifteen years or so, Soft Power has been discussed by many scholars. However, maximum literature available on the subject is related with the developed countries. Nye, in his books “Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power (1990)” and “Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (2004)” provides the reader details about Soft Power literature. In the book “Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (2004)”, Nye combines the soft and hard power. He says that soft power lies in the ability to attract and persuade. Hard power grows out of a country’s military or economic might and soft power arises from the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals, and policies (Joseph, 2004). Nye even expresses his frustration in finding the term being used often incorrectly by the political leaders, editorial writers, and academics around the world. He describes, Soft power – “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion”. Initially, Nye identifies culture, international laws and institutions, and multinational corporations as sources of soft power. However, afterwards he modifies the elements and concedes that culture, political values and foreign policies are sources of soft power (Joseph, 2011). Another book “The Future of Power by Joseph Nye (2011)” highlights the fundamental shift in the workings of international system in the contemporary times with the rise of various non-state actors and with the rise of new economies including Asian countries.

Maximum literature on Soft Power has covered developed countries and very less material is available as far as the developing countries are concerned. As regard to the developing countries, different writers have

124 discussed separately in the domain of their own countries; however there is dearth of literature or research which covers the efficacy of soft power in the matters of foreign policy for developing countries. An assessment of these writers revealed a knowledge gap that whether developing countries are able to employ the soft power effectively for their nation building in the twenty-first century or not? Therefore, an effort is made during the research to examine that how developing countries can exercise their Soft Power options for influencing the foreign policy objectives?

Research Methodology

It is primarily a descriptive research that makes use of primary and secondary data followed by qualitative analysis. It is exploratory as well as analytical in nature. Since the envisaged subject has not been explored earlier in the context of developing countries, an exploratory approach followed by qualitative analysis is considered more preferable. The research is also analytical in a way that it will help in critical evaluation of already available facts and information relative to the research. The idea regarding the prospects of employment of soft power potentials in State’s Foreign Policy are examined through case studies of different soft power models (both developed and developing countries) followed by survey and interviews.

Soft Power and its Resources Soft Power

Soft power is increasingly talked about in the post-Cold War era. Joseph Nye (Harvard University Professor) was the pioneer on the concept of Soft Power who first coined this term in 1990 in his book, “Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power”. The book explains the nature and ways in which Soft Power can be used by the nations. Nye in 2004 further explained in his book, “Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics” that soft power arises from the attractiveness of country’s

125 Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries in the Contemporary Environment culture, policies and political leadership (Joseph, 2004). Soft Power able the State to attract and persuade another state without the use of threats using military and economy (Kurlantzick, 2006).

Sources of Soft Power

A state derives its Soft Power from three main resources: culture, political values, and foreign policies (Joseph, 1990). It can be opined that Economics and Military do not generally comprise Soft Power. What actually include Soft Power are culture, political values and foreign policy. “If I can get you to do what I want, then I do not have to force you to do what you do not want to do (Joseph, 2002).” So, soft power is not only the ability to attract but also the capability to set the political agenda. Therefore, by modeling the political agenda, state can figure the preferences of others. Summarily, it can be said that in the contemporary world mainly because of changing of nature of the interaction between the states, globalization and emergence of non-traditional challenges, soft power is generated by culture, political values and foreign policies that appeal to the universal beliefs, close to the realities and acceptable to all in general.

Soft Power: Need of the Time

In the contemporary world, positive image of a country is highly important which can be achieved through utilization of Soft Power resources only. Therefore, soft power has become need of the time. Moreover, to employ the instruments of national power; all are trying their utmost to utilize the sources of Soft Power. However, it is to be seen in the context of developing countries as much literature does not specify the same. Therefore, it is important to view that how Soft Power potentials can provide benefit to the developing countries and moreover, how these countries can harness these soft power potentials to achieve their national foreign policy objectives.

126 Global Ranking: Soft Power 30 Index (Parameters and Perspective)

It is important to have a look at the current global system of ranking with respect to soft power parameters and perspective. This is done primarily to draw a linkage with the foreign policy determinants to prove that ‘Soft Power potentials are positive catalysts for the State’s foreign policy in respect of both developed and developing countries’. The global ranking system provides ranking to different countries as per the projection of their soft power in which UK ranked first in 2018.

Table 1: The Soft Power 30 Framework Government, Digital, Culture, Enterprise, Objective Data (70%) Engagement and Education Cuisine, Tech Products, Friendliness, Culture, Polling Data (30%) Luxury Goods, Foreign Policy and Liveability

Significance of Soft Power for Developing Countries

Hard power of a country does not necessarily dictate future world policies rather it is the art of utilising the instruments of all elements of national power especially those falls under the soft power domain. It is even more applicable for the developing countries because of the fact that developing countries have limited resources vis-à-vis enormous challenges to coup up with the contemporary world for future development. Therefore, in the present age loss of soft power can be considered very costly. The efficacy of all types of power depends on the approachability of power resources (Heywood, 2011). Developed countries like USA or Russia with a higher national income can manage large forces and therefore, can influence. Simultaneously, for small or developing countries, such traditional ways may not be possible. However, approachability of soft power resources does not

127 Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries in the Contemporary Environment depend on these factors. Developing / small countries needs to adapt ways to get maximum benefit from soft power resources (Joseph, 2002).

Foreign Policy and its Determinants

Foreign policy is defined in many ways by different scholars; however, one thing is common that there is no doubt that it is concerned with the behavior of a state towards other states. It is considered appropriate to look into the determinants of the foreign policy. This is done with a purpose to draw a parallel of the determinants of the foreign policy with soft power parameters in the study.

Table 2: Determinants of Foreign Policy (Dinesh, 2019). Determinants Size of State Political Social Structure Public Opinion Territory Accountability Geographical Government Ideology Technology Factor Structure Internal External Alliances Diplomacy Situation Environment Values, Talents, International Cultural and Level and Nature Experiences and Power Structure Historical of Economic Personalities of (Global Strategic Factors Development Leaders Environment)

Linkage between Soft Power Tools and Foreign Policy Determinants

The study develops the relationship or linkage between ‘Soft Power Tools’ and ‘Foreign Policy Determinants’ based on Table 1 and Table 2 and the same is depicted in Figure 1. The subject figure clearly describes the direct/ indirect relationship of ‘Soft Power Tools’ with ‘Foreign Policy Determinants’.

128

Figure 1: Linkages between ‘Soft Power Tools’ with ‘Foreign Policy Determinants’

Soft Power: More Effective Vis-à-vis Hard Power in State’s Foreign Policy in the Contemporary World

Soft power is gaining importance in the international system and is considered more effective and efficient concept in contemporary global politics because of its endurance and sustainability especially in the matters of foreign policy and interaction between the countries. Hard power is considered less useful as the global system is usually discrediting it due to its harmful and short term effect. However, smart power strategies which

129 Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries in the Contemporary Environment are a combination of both i.e. hard and soft powers also play an important role in the contemporary global politics (Jan-Philipp, 2014).

Analysis through Case Studies, Survey and Interviews Case Studies

An analysis of the study is carried out through case studies by selecting contemporary models of soft power with especial focus on State’s foreign policy. In order to select the countries for the purpose of case studies, the existing system of ‘The Soft Power 30 index’ and ‘Asia Soft Power 10’ are consulted which is the world’s most comprehensive comparative assessment of global soft power.

Figure 2: Global Soft Power Index 30

130 Figure 3: Asia Soft Power Index 10 01 02 03 Japan South Korea Singapore Score │ 7622 Score │ 6275 Score │ 6244 04 05 06 China Taiwan* Thailand Score │ 5185 Score │ 4725 Score │ 4592 07 08 09 Malaysia India Indonesia Score │ 4592 Score │ 4064 Score │ 4051 10 Philippines Score │ 3768

USA, Japan, China and India are selected for case studies with a view to draw meaningful lessons and come out with feasible options for the developing countries with respect to state’s foreign policy through utilization of soft power resources. The two developed countries are selected with a view to analyzing that if soft power is not utilized in the contemporary world, then it can be detrimental for these developed countries as far as the branding of good image of the country is concerned.

Inference from the Case Studies

• The loss of Soft Power parameters especially engagement initiatives, diplomatic capability, government policies and foreign policy matters can be very costly and highly detrimental irrespective of the status of the country whether developed or developing.

131 Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries in the Contemporary Environment

• The generation of soft power is a lengthy process as compared to generating hard power as most of the resources of soft power are intangible in nature. However, Soft Power strategies tend to have a long term effect due to its nature as compared to that of Hard Power.

• Foreign policies are more successful when elements of Soft Power are capitalized in own favour as compared to solely relying on Hard Power resources. In fact, combination of both powers which is termed as Smart Power is considered more feasible.

• Developing countries having less capability of generating Hard Power can utilize the sources of Soft Power in foreign policy matters to gain maximum gain, however meaningful integration and utilization of these resources is required by the State.

• Foreign Policy is considered the most essential mean for successful Soft Power projection through investment / aid programmes, diplomacy, culture, media and exchange programmes.

• Soft Power projection involves strategic use of persuasion, capacity building and projection of power and influence in ways that are cost- effective and have political and social legitimacy.

• Overall, it appears that Soft Power strategies are more effective in the contemporary international system than Hard Power strategies. The demise of Hard Power is caused by changes in the world order, whereas the strength of Soft Power is based on its endurance and sustainability. As Soft Power has weaknesses, too, it is worth considering the strength of Smart Power strategies.

Survey Results

In order to further strengthen the findings of case studies, a survey questionnaire was also used for data collection. The members of the NDC-2019 were selected to get first-hand view. The selection of sample

132 was very interesting as it includes representatives from seventeen different countries including Bangladesh. Summary is depicted below:

Table 3: Survey Results

Ser Question Yes% No%

Is Soft Power getting more importance than Hard 1 85 15 Power in the contemporary environment? Are Soft Power potentials positive catalysts for 2 the State’s foreign policy for both developed and 97 3 developing countries? Are Soft Power potentials positive catalysts for 3 the State’s foreign policy in respect of developing 97 3 countries? 4 Does Soft Power really matter? 98 2 Can Soft Power serve as a tool to project coun- 5 try’s image through foreign policy and enhance 98 2 development of country? Can developing countries make use of Soft Power 6 in their foreign policy matters in the contempo- 94 6 rary environment? Can the employment of Soft Power help in shaping, designing and implementing the foreign 7 94 6 policy and nature of relations in the international arena especially for developing countries? 8 Is economic strength a Soft Power? 80 20 9 Is military power a Soft Power? 6 94 10 Is Soft Power difficult to use? 34 66 11 Can Soft Power be measured like Hard Power? 32 68 12 Is Soft Power more ‘Humane’ than Hard Power? 84 16 13 Is Soft Power irrelevant to the terrorist threat? 30 70 Can Soft Power legitimize National Policies on the 14 81 19 external platform?

133 Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries in the Contemporary Environment

Survey shows that maximum respondents agreed on the importance of Soft Power in the contemporary environment. They agree that Soft Power potentials are positive catalysts for the State’s foreign policy in respect of both developed and developing countries. Moreover, it can serve as a tool to project country’s image through foreign policy and enhance development of the country.

Interviews

To further validate the study, an interview is conducted with Professor Shahab Enam Khan, Research Director of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute. Although, concept of Soft Power is as important as the concept of Hard Power, however, countries have to constantly renew themselves in the global competition in order to remain effective and reliable. Countries have developed tools and strategies that will make themselves superior in the global competition. Positive images of the countries provide investment, tourism and security to the countries. On a narrower definition it is to influence governments due to use of diplomacy, shared interests or economic favors and more widely culturally with popular culture, ideas and lifestyles.

Options for Developing Countries

As there is no permanence of relations in the international environment, therefore, countries can change their foreign policies based on national interests. Many resources of Soft Power are sometimes independent of government control. Therefore, to have an effective soft image building programme which can have a direct effect on foreign policy objectives, there is a need to focus in all the areas simultaneously.

All countries are trying their utmost to utilize the concept of Soft Power to get maximum benefit from the instruments of national power. It is very important to notice that all countries whether developed or developing

134 have got certain amount of national power; however, it is only the art of the leaders that how best they can utilize these resources. The options for the developing countries are mainly focused on those instruments of Soft Power which are generally available in each country, however the State needs to focus on these resources in the right direction and integrate these resources to frame a foreign policy which is in the better interest of the country. Therefore, in the context of developing countries, following options may be considered to harness the Soft Power potentials in order to achieve the national foreign policy objectives:

• Soft Power through Governance and Political Values • Soft Power through Engagement and Public Diplomacy • Soft Power through Culture • Soft Power through Education • Soft Power through Media • Soft Power through Sports • Soft Power through Tourism • Soft Power through Performing Arts • Soft Power through Philanthropy • Soft Power through Women Empowerment • Soft Power through Involvement of Youth

Recommendations

As the study is of general nature focused on developing countries, therefore, there is no specific recommendation. However, the study provides a lot of options for the developing countries which if utilized in the right sense could be highly beneficial for the foreign policy as well as the national interest of the country. The study ends up with following general recommendations which may be considered useful to harness the Soft Power potentials in the matters of State’s Foreign Policy:

135 Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries in the Contemporary Environment

• In this ever changing complex global environment, State of the developing countries needs to assess the existing soft power resources at the strategic level which are both feasible and practicable in order to frame the foreign policy and derive maximum benefits as far as national interests are concerned. • State needs to prepare platforms for enhancing the knowledge on national soft power potential and develop better understanding of the leaders and stakeholders of the country on this complex issue like identification and process of implementation of national soft power elements in which such potentials transform into tools of influence.

• Leaders and stakeholders of the developing countries need to learn the art of employing all elements of soft power to gain maximum benefit as far as foreign policy matters are concerned in the best of their national interests including national security. A collective approach is essential in this regard where participation from all sectors of the country is considered necessary to harness the existing potentials of the country in the State’s foreign policy and better interest of the country.

• State needs to ensure political stability in domestic as well as international affairs to develop a favourable environment for the country so that elements of soft power could be employed successfully.

• State needs to increase involvement in international affairs to enhance global image and create a space for influence in the international sphere. The diaspora may be engaged to promote national image of the country.

Scope for Further Study

By looking at the limitations attached with the application of Soft Power and considering the fact that hard power elements cannot be completely ignored, it is considered essential to carry out a study to examine the efficacy of smart power in the contemporary environment which is the

136 combination of both types of powers. The subject study is mainly focused on the efficacy of the soft power, therefore, elements / efficacy of smart power could not be explored.

Conclusion

“Soft Power”, the idea coined by professor Nye in 90’s has drawn much attention of scholars, diplomats and stakeholders in statecraft. Since then it has also been seen to be holistically pursued by many nations. In the present digitized world of cooperation and interdependence for growth; soft power element of diplomacy has also gained much prominence. Scholars have identified that nation have employed such power since ancient time for pursuing national interest. Recent study now even ranks the soft power nations with analytical measuring. In contemporary world, there is a noticeable change in strategy adopted by the states in exercising the power game. The use of hard power is getting less importance, because of the cost involved and most importantly military means is considered catastrophic to be used against any state; like the case of Afghanistan. Hence it is the Soft Power which can bring an enduring impact in shaping up the country’s narrative. Soft power resources depends less on the size of a state, rather it depends that how countries are likely to be more attractive in future to frame their concerns through culture and political ideas which are more closer to prevailing international norms, and whose credibility abroad is reinforced by their values and policies. The interactive quality of soft power - can also be termed as the diplomatic tool; which is an essential requirement for foreign policy making.

In this era of globalization, positive image of a country is highly important. The image is supposed to be like a brand which is acceptable by others and it can only be achieved through utilization of Soft Power resources. Therefore, soft power has become need of the time and in the present age loss of soft power can be very costly. Soft power is gaining importance in the international system and is considered more effective and efficient

137 Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries in the Contemporary Environment concept in contemporary global politics because of its endurance and sustainability especially in the matters of foreign policy and interaction between the countries.

The study reveals that if soft power potentials are not utilized in the right direction then what to talk about developing countries, the developed countries can even lose their standings and image in the contemporary world. Therefore, it depends on the art of utilizing the potentials of the soft power by the leaders and stakeholders of the country whether developed or developing. Hence, developing countries can harness these soft power potentials to achieve their national foreign policy objectives. However, these countries need to learn the art of employing such element of soft power to safeguard its various national interests including national security.

Endnotes

(i) Hermann defined foreign policy as “the discrete purposeful action that results from the political level decision of an individual or group of individuals”. George Modelski, defines it as “the system of activities evolved by communities for changing the behavior of other states and for adjusting their own activities to the international environment.” Joseph Frankel defines “foreign policy consists of decisions and actions, which involves to some appreciable extent relations between one state and others and it comprises of the formulation and implementation of a set of ideas while interacting with other states to defend and enhance their national interests.” Padelford and Lincoln define “a State’s Foreign Policy is totality of its dealings with the external environment”.

138 References

1. A Malik, Rafeh. “Threats to Pakistan’s Internal Security”, Defence Journal, Aug, 2003.

2. C Dale Walton. “Geopolitics and the Great Powers in the Twenty-First Century”, New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2007.

3. Dinesh. Foreign Policy: 16 Elements of Foreign Policy, 2016 (http:// www.yourarticlelibrary.com/international-politics/foreign-policy-16- elements-of-foreign-policy/48492 accessed Jun 2019).

4. Heywood, A. “Global Politics”. Basingstoke: Palgrave Foundation, 2011.

5. Jan-Philipp, NE Wagner. “The Effectiveness of Soft & Hard Power in Contemporary International Relations”, 2014 (https:// www.e-r.info/2014/05/14/the-effectiveness-of-soft-hard-power-in- contemporary-international-relations/).

6. Joshua Kurlantzick. “China’s Charm Offensive in Southeast Asia,” Current History, Sept 2006.

7. Leonard, M. “Public Diplomacy”. London: The Foreign Policy Centre, 2002.

8. Morgenthau, Hans J. “Politics Among Nations The Struggle for Power and Peace”, First Edition, New York, 1948.

9. Nye, Joseph. “Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power”, Basic Books, New York, 1990.

10. Nye, Joseph. “The Paradox of American Power”, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

11. Nye, Joseph. “Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics”, New York, 2004.

139 Efficacy of Soft Power in State’s Foreign Policy for Developing Countries in the Contemporary Environment

12. Nye, Joseph. “The Future of Power”, New York, 2011.

13. Soft Power 30, A Global Ranking of Soft Power, 2018, (https:// softpower30.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/The-Soft-Power- 30-Report-2018.pdf).

14. The Soft Power 30, (https://softpower30.com/).

Author

Group Captain Syed Hashmat Iqbal is a Course Member of NDC 2019. He was born on 30 March, 1973. He joined Pakistan Air Force in 1988 and was commissioned in 1993 in the Engineering Branch. Besides his regimental appointments as Engineering Officer, he has commanded the Engineering Wing of an operational Base of Pakistan Air Force. He was also deployed on other important field appointments including command of an aircraft Engineering Squadron and Senior Engineering Officer of a fighter aircraft squadron. As Staff officer, he has served at the Air Headquarters, Islamabad in the capacity of Deputy Director Weapon System Management and also Deputy Director Flight Safety. He has also acquired two master degrees in the field of War Studies and Strategic Studies from NDU, Islamabad. He also remained involved in instructional duties to train the future Senior Engineering Officers at PAF Academy, Risalpur.

140 360 DEGREE ASSESSMENTS OF OFFICERS OF BANGLADESH ARMY- A QUEST FOR ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Colonel Md Mafizul Islam Rashed, afwc, psc

Introduction

360 Degree Assessments (360DA) - in which employees receive feedback from supervisors, subordinates and peers - have become popular personnel management tools. In global context, it is not something very new. Many of the army and civilian organizations have adopted 360DA for their officers and employees. It has contributed significantly to personal development, most commonly for officers in leadership positions. Bangladesh Army had lastly in 2007 introduced the existing performance evaluation system (PES) for its officers. Since then, almost a decade had elapsed and many new issues like absence of perspective, lack of objectivity, difficulty in identifying the doers, stereotypocity, prone to manipulation etc have arisen in regard to current PES. PES needs regular monitoring and revision to suit the requirement of time. Linking individual achievement with organizational goal, provisioning systematic motivation during assessment, exploring possibilities of inclusion of peer assessment and inclusion of relevant concepts from HRM could be few examples of such revision. However, it is also important to validate how these incorporations would positively impact the interests of Bangladesh Army. Therefore, this research attempted to revisit existing PES with a view to suggesting steps for enhancing organizational effectiveness. This research focused on three core issues- weaknesses of prevalent system, its effect on officers and Bangladesh Army, lastly whether 360DA can eradicate those undesirable effects to enhance organizational effectiveness.

141 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

Problem Statement

360 Degree Assessments (360DA) – in which employees receive feedback from supervisors, subordinates and peers - have become popular personnel management tools. In global context, it is not something very new. Many of the army and civilian organizations have adopted 360DA for their officers and employees. It has contributed significantly to personal development, most commonly for officers in leadership positions (Reazul, 2016). Bangladesh Army had lastly in 2007 introduced the existing PES for its officers. Since then, almost a decade had elapsed and many new issues like absence of perspective, lack of objectivity, difficulty in identifying the doers, stereotypic, prone to manipulation etc have arisen in regard to current PES. PES needs regular monitoring and revision to suit the requirement of time. Linking individual achievement with organizational goal, provisioning systematic motivation during assessment, exploring possibilities of inclusion of peer assessment and inclusion of relevant concepts from HRM could be few examples of such revision. However, it is also important to validate whether incorporation of 360DA will positively impact the interests of Bangladesh Army. Therefore, this research attempts to revisit existing PES with a view to finding out that 360DA whether can fill up those gaps and contribute to enhance organizational effectiveness

Literature Review

Many researchers talked about adoption and implementation of HRM practices within the Armed Forces. The aim of HRM within the Armed Forces is to deliver improved efficiency and flexibility. In addition, an organization should review its Human Resource (HR) practices and issues in every 5 years. (Alex Alexandrou, Richard Bartle and Richard Holmes, 2001). Initiating Officers (IOs) may suffer from few problems stemming from very human nature unless carefully guarded against. PES is basically a management function and emphasized on application of ACR products.

142 There is a need for different assessment form for different group of ranks, computerization and inclusion of multi-source assessment system like 360DA etc (Wahid-Uz-Zaman, 2002).

Appraisals are one of the five important functions of HRM. Data and quantifiable indicators should be used to measure individual’s performance. A Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely (SMART) goal setting by superior is likely to generate the best results. Alternation ranking, paired comparison, forced distribution and behaviorally anchored rating scale are good appraisal methods (Gary Dessler, 2005). Performance appraisal does not mean the ACR format only, rather it is an integrated approach covering posting, training, promotion, recognition etc. Performance Based Evaluation System (PBES) used in Bangladesh Civil Service also suggested connection between individual performance and achievement of organizational goal (Monowar, 2009).

U.S. Army’s Performance Evaluation Guide suggested a concise description of their ten leadership competencies and thirteen attributes. It provides short pointers about how an assessor should prepare to observe an officer’s performance from leadership point of view. It divides leadership attributes as - Character, Presence and Intellect. It also divides Core Leader Competencies into three Categories- Lead, Develop and Achieve. Few examples are cited in this guide to identify weak, standard and strong leaders and grade them accordingly. (U.S. Army’s Performance Evaluation Guide, 2014). The most common use of 360DA is as a feedback and development tool, the military has also begun exploring the use of 360DA to contribute to personnel development, most commonly for officers in leadership positions (Hardison, Zaydman, Oluwatola, Saavedra, Bush, Peterson and Straus, 2015).

143 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

Research Philosophy Objectives of the Research

Bearing the foregone problem statement and considering the significance of the problem, following objectives have been set for the research. The Broad Objective was to critically review the PES of BD Army for examining the prospects of incorporating 360DA towards enhancement of organizational effectiveness. The Specific objectives were; to identify the weaknesses of prevalent PES and how it is affecting individual officer and the organization, to check the feasibility of incorporating 360DA in fulfilling those weaknesses.

Research Hypothesis

The researcher did not assert present system to be ineffective. However, he felt that a revision is timely now and incorporating relevant new ideas would enhance effectiveness of PES. Thus, research hypothesis is- ‘360DA will enhance organizational effectiveness of Bangladesh Army’.

Research Methodology

This was a non-experimental descriptive type of research with causal relationship design. It followed an analytical methodology based on multiple sources of information. Primary data were collected through questionnaire surveys. The population for the survey belonged to officers of Bangladesh Army posted in various establishment of the rank of majors and above. Secondary data were collected from previous researches on the subject and unpublished internal documents from NDC and DSCSC. Besides, various books, journals, periodicals, newspaper articles and open sources like online publications and internet were also used.

144 Conceptualization

The hypothesis of this research dealt with two variables. Hence the proposition of this research was a ‘Bivariate’ proposition. The proposition was used to assess the truth or falsity of the relationship among observable phenomena. As such, this research followed a ‘Non-experiential’ research design.

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

145 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

Analysis of the Weaknesses of Prevalent PES and Its Effect on Bangladesh Army Weaknesses of Prevalent PES

The researcher focused on the weaknesses of PES from general observation, comparison with contemporary armies and considering latest trends of HRM. The causes were then sorted out through interviews, and FGDs. Accordingly, survey questions were asked to justify the major weaknesses of the system quantitatively. Researcher has categorized the weaknesses into three major groups- related to overall system, OPR form itself and IO.

Undesirable effects of current PES are namely, promoting careerism/ showing off, calculative attitudes, hindrance to career progression, failure to get realistic feedback from peers and under-commands, lack of job satisfaction, encourage sycophancy/flattery etc. Regarding the prevalent PES’s effect on organization, it was found that there were issues like, difficulties in getting an accurate picture of ratee, inappropriate employment of officers, proliferation of over-grading, disregard for unit service, deficiency in human resources management, hindrance to achieve organizational role etc. It is generally perceived that upgradation will reverse the negative effects and will positively impact on organizational effectiveness of Bangladesh Army.

360DA and Influence of ExistingPES on Organizational Effectiveness of Bangladesh Army 360DA/Multi-Rater Performance Appraisal

The 360 Degree Assesment is one of the appraisal system that has in the recent years gained significant popularity in both small and large- sized firms. By description, the 360 Degree Appraisal System involves an appraisal system that encompasses the views of different groups of

146 reviewers who socialize with the organization’s employees. Such reviewers include the employee’s superiors (managers and supervisors), co-workers/ peers and customers (Lepsinger, R. Lucia, D. 2009).

Figure 3: 360 Degree Assessment

Employee development Customer Performance client appraisal & satisfaction management 3600 feedback Training Organizational needs assessment appraisal Post- training evaluation

The process also includes the employee’s opinion about him/herself and hence its recognition as a multi-source, multi-rater and full-circle appraisal system. There are four key assessments that should constitute a 360 Degree Appraisal System. They include self-assessment; immediate supervisor assessment; subordinate assessment and peer assessment (Grund, C. and Przemeck, J. 2012).

The 360 Degree Appraisal Systems allows for gathering of information about an individual from different degree and angles. Moreover, the 360 Degree Performance Appraisal system is considered as one that helps in overcoming disadvantages such as prejudice, subjectivity and halo errors, which characterize traditional evaluation systems. Mr Espinilla in his book ‘A 360-Degree Performance Appraisal Model Dealing with Heterogeneous Information and Dependent Criteria’ noted that the use of 360DA evaluation method makes it unlikely that the employee is criticized solely by the manager.

147 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

Management by Objectives (MBO)

Management by Objectives is defined as a result-based evaluative program. The goals of the performance appraisal system from an MBO perspective are mutually defined by several key stakeholders who include the subordinates, supervisors and employees as well. A typical MBO appraisal system consists of several steps. The process begins by the establishment of clear objectives for the employee (Choon, K. and Embi, A. 2012).

Figure 4: Management by Objectives (MBO)

An action plan detailing the way in which the objectives are to be achieved is developed. The employee is then allowed to implement the developed action plan. This allows for appraisal of performance in an objective manner. Corrective actions are taken in situations deemed necessary as well as new objectives for the future are established.

In terms of effectiveness, the MBO approach has been found to provide significant benefits to both the organization and the employees. Notably, the MBO approach promotes objectivity, allows for a two-way feedback

148 as well as encourages performance improvement of employees through motivation. One of the main shortcomings of MBO approach pertains to the fact that it does not allow monitors to see how employee deal with every eventuality over the given work period (Armstrong, 2009).

Graphical Rating Scales

According to A Wood and J Wirtz, Graphical Rating Scales constitute the most used method during performance appraisal in most organizations. A graphical rating scale in this context entails a performance appraisal rating checklist. Using the checklist, the manager simply rates the employee on a continuum that may range from poor to excellent depending on the aspect being evaluated. A Woods further attributed the popularity of graphical rating scales to the ability to use such scales for a variety of jobs.

Figure 5: Graphical Rating Scales

149 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

Such scales are also considered as requiring minimal cost, training effort and time. Rating scales can be used in assessing productivity in terms of whether the employee makes good use of available plans, work time and completes assignments on schedule. In addition, the employee‘s knowledge of the job can be assessed. These include job relevant skills that are gained through education, experience and on-job training.

Despite their ease of use, various studies highlight several limitations attributable to the graphical rating scales. First, the standardized nature of the scales overlooks the aspects of trait relevance. It was argued (Armstrong et al, 2009) that in this case some traits are more relevant in some jobs compared to others and hence specific workplace context ought to be considered. In addition, rating scales may suffer from systemic advantage in which case relevant indicators of performance may be excluded and hence the inability to achieve results that reflects the employees’ full value.

360 Degree Assessment

360DA is a process for collecting, quantifying, and reporting coworker observations about an individual (i.e, a ratee) that facilitates/enables three specific data-driven outcomes: (a) the collection of rater perceptions of the degree to which specific behaviors are exhibited; (b) the analysis of meaningful comparisons of rater perceptions across multiple ratees, between specific groups of raters for an individual ratee, and for ratee changes over time; and (c) the creation of sustainable individual, group, and/or organizational changes in behaviors valued by the organization.

According to David W. Bracken (DW Bracken & Associates), Dale S. Rose (3D Group) and Allan H. Church (PepsiCo) “A 360DA process includes all the steps that affect the quality (reliability, validity, execution, and acceptance) of the feedback. According to the Bracken, 360DA has certain advantages, few important advantages are:

150 • Encourages Personal Development. Honest and reliable feedback is necessary to test one’s perceptions, recognize overlooked strengths, and expose perceptual blind-spots. By providing easy, digestible areas to examine, leaders will naturally grasp onto them in order to continue their improvement.

• Increase Accountability. The enemy of accountability is ambiguity. One can’t tell someone to “be a better leader” without providing specifics. 360DA clarify behaviors and allow an individual to make a judgment on whether that behavior was demonstrated or not.

• Team Development. 360DA helps team members learn to work more effectively together. Teams know more about how team members are performing than their supervisor. Multi-rater feedback makes team members more accountable to each other as they share the knowledge that they will provide input on each members’ performance. A well- planned process can improve communication and team development.

• Personal and Organizational Effectiveness Enhancer. 360DA is one of the best methods for understanding personal and organizational developmental needs in any organization. One may discover what keeps employees from working successfully together and how organization’s policies, procedures, and approaches affect employee success.

• Reduced Discrimination Risk. When feedback comes from several individuals in various job functions, discrimination because of race, age, gender, and so forth is reduced. The “horns and halo” effect, in which a supervisor rates performance based on his/her most recent interactions with the employee, is also minimized.

151 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

Figure 6: Benefits of 360DA

Encourages More Personal Accurate Promotes Dev Increase Dialogue - Self- Supervisor, Awareness Peers & Clarifies Subord Behaviors Measures Personal How and Org Things Performance Get Done Increase Dev Accounta bility Promote creativity Foster Team Esprit - Develop de-Corps Reduced ment Discrimi nation Risk

• Training Needs Assessment. 360DA provides comprehensive information about organization’s training needs and thus allows planning for classes, cross-functional responsibilities, and cross- training. From the discussions above, numbers of weaknesses of prevalent PES were identified. In the previous paragraphs, many advantages of 360DA were identified. Now, if the weaknesses of prevalent PES and the advantages of 360DA are juxtaposed, the later is in a condition to eradicate many of the weaknesses of the former. Thus it can be accepted as an alternative to prevalent PES.

152 Table 1: Pictorial Analysis of prevalent PES and 360DA

Weakness of Exisitng PES Advantages of 360DA

The current PES should be changed and the closest new PES which can eradicate the identified weakness is the 360DA was mentioned by one of the ex-Bangladesh Army Chief. He also affirmed his stance and expressed that it would remove toxic leadership from the Army and enhance organizational effectiveness (Reazul et al, 2016). The top most two disadvantages of prevalent PES, were lack of goal setting and declining Esprit-de-corps. On the other hand, the top most two advantages of 360DA, are goal setting, promote dialogue and fostering esprit de corps. Since, 360DA calls for feedback from the peers and subordinate, therefore, the working relation between them are likely to remain very cordial, open and professional, which would contribute to the enhancement of esprit- de-corp. That’s why 360DA could be an option. In addition, Existing PES encourage loyalty to IO or for that matter to an individual. Whereas, 360DA calls for professional outlook, because it is not your superior, but

153 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness also your peers and subordinates are also watching your steps. If not all, maximum of the shortcomings can be overcome by introducing 360DA in Bangladesh Army. Apart from having a sunny side, 360DA has some dark side too, some of such issues like exceptional expectation from the process, implementing too quickly before the organization is ready, failure to connect the process with organizational goal, lack of accuracy of Information, rater inexperience and ineffectiveness, Information overload etc. Lastly, in the worst case, it saps morale, destroys motivation, and enables disenfranchised employees to go for the jugular or plot revenge scenarios against people who rated their performance less than perfect (Bracken, D.W. 1996).

How Does the 360DA Enhance the Organizational Effectiveness of Bangladesh Army

Researcher chose to test the organizational effectiveness of BD Army by using a model named ‘Rational Goal Model’ and then to see what kind of effect 360DA is likely to have on the measuring indicators of this model. This Goal Attainment Approach is characterized by an identification of goals to measure performance. It defines effectiveness as the degree to which an organization has achieved its goals. It assesses the effectiveness of an organization in terms of its success in realizing its goals. It is regarded as the ‘most logical approach’ to study organizational effectiveness (Weese, 1997). The goal approach nevertheless has its weaknesses too. Most obvious is the reality that an organization may have numerous goals that may conflict with one another. In addition, an organization’s goals may shift over time. In addition, when an organization’s goals are ‘unclear, unstable, and conflicting with each other, it becomes very difficult to measure organizational effectiveness using the goal approach. But Bangladesh Army is a permanent institution of the Government, therefore it is very less likely to have conflicting goals which is to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the State. So, the approach chosen for measuring the organization’s effectiveness is appropriate. 154 Indicators of Organizational Effectiveness

This approach focuses on the goals or output of an organization and on evaluating how well the organization meets those goals. Taking the goal model into consideration, few indicators were identified which can assist to measure the organizational effectiveness of Bangladesh Army, namely; Operational Preparedness of Organization, Resilience of Organization, Job Satisfaction of its members, Adaptability or Change management, Members’ motivation, Innovativeness etc. Therefore, an investigation was carried out to find out, as to how 360DA may impact these indicators.

Operational Preparedness of an Organization

Bangladesh Army is a permanent organization and its goals are very clear. Its duties are to defend the territorial integrity and protect the sovereignty of country. It is quite difficult to say whether the organization is failing or surviving. As per the current stand, BD Army is going great gun and likely to achieve its future targeted goal. So far BD Army did not fail to carry out any assignments given to it. However, if we place this satisfying understanding against a benchmark, we may find a different connotation. John M. Collins in 1994 developed a model which included 09 principles to check the preparedness of any military organization. Against that model following are the findings. However results against most relevant two principles out of nine are mentioned in Table 2:

155 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

Table 2: Operational Preparedness Model Principles Principle Statement Assessment of Preparedness Foresight “Armed forces perform BD Armed forces presently taking best when actions to measures to strike the balance for ensure present and present and future preparedness. future preparedness Forces Goal 2030 has been proceed concurrently in formulized and endeavour has proper balance” been taken by the services to fulfil the goals. It calls for an efficient group of senior leadership who can foresee the future. Purview “Armed forces perform This is the basic principle of joint best when organized, military preparedness. Though equipped, and trained BD Armed Forces is performing to fulfil particular the roles and missions as provided responsibilities” by the Govt. Each of the services are capable but lacked jointness.

Organizational effectiveness of Bangladesh Army was very carefully assessed against the first two principles only. From the table , it was quite clear that the first one absolutely deals with leadership’s vision, The foresight. 360DA would unfailingly discover suitable officers with the appropriate leadership vision capable of leading the organization. Secondly, training played the most crucial role of keeping the armed forces operation effective. 360DA would also assist the MS Branch officers to find out suitable trainer and directly influence the effectiveness.

Resilience of Organization

Resilience is a multidimensional, sociotechnical phenomenon that addresses how people, as individuals or groups, manage un-certainty. Organizations respond to uncertainty in many ways; they centralize internal controls, they

156 learn, they are creative and they adapt. But how to measure this resilience in Bangladesh Army. Resilience of Bangladesh Army was tested against a model developed jointly by Amy V Lee, John Vargo and Erica Seville. The factors and indicators are appended below:

Table 3: Model of Organizational Resilience Factors Indicators Adaptive Capacity Self-engagement and Involvement Leadership Internal Resource Information and Knowledge Minimization of Silos Innovation and Creativity Decision making Situation monitoring and reporting Planning Planning Strategies Participation in exercise Proactive Posture External Resources Recover Priorities

Self-engagement and Involvements, Leadership, Innovation and Creativity and Decision making are the four vary important indicators of first factor that is adaptive capacity. These indicators really hinge on leaderships’ ability and organizational culture. 360DA directly influences these four indicators. 360DA can propose to discover suitable leader who can do necessary things to enhance the adaptive capacity. Another important indicator of Planning factor is planning strategies, and proactive postures. Only capable leadership can handle these two complex issues of panning factors. An organization leader with high uptake and clear visions is likely to generate organizational resilience.

157 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

The Global X-Network stated that social systems that have strong trust are less prone to a selfish or even disruptive mass behavior. Trust can be defined as the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party. It was further mentioned that that in those organizations where planning procedures are participative, the trust on the organization and its future is higher. Here comes the role of 360DA. (Masud, 2019) opined that this new kind of assessment system will garner mutual trust and respect between peers, superiors and subordinates. The current PSO in an interview in 2016 reiterated that 360DA may be introduced in Bangladesh Army (Reazul et al, 2016). It would eradicate toxic leadership from various layers of the Army and contributes to organizational development. However, another ex-service did not buy the idea of introducing this new system in Bangladesh Army (Mubeen, 2019).

However, the current generation think otherwise-in response to a question- “Do you think that 360DA will enhance the organizational effectiveness of Bangladesh Army?”-the respondents overwhelmingly showed their willingness to accept 360DA as new PES of Bangladesh Army.

Chart 4: 360DA vis-s-vis Organizational Effectiveness of Bangladesh Army

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Source: Survey-1 (n=396)

158 Job Satisfaction of its Members

Job satisfaction is a common measurement used within HR functions. Job satisfaction is considered one of the main metrics for gauging overall workplace sentiment. Measuring employee satisfaction also helps determining their needs and motivations, as well as how the company can help them to grow. According to a famous job seeking website Glassdoor, the top three drivers of job satisfaction were namely: A company’s values and culture, the quality of an organization’s senior leaders and career opportunities.

The same is applicable for BD Army. It is important to note that 360DA can directly influence the second (The quality of an organization’s senior leaders) and the third (Career opportunities) factor. By using 360DA, BD Army will be in a better position to select suitable officers for senior leadership positions. 360DA can really ensure a fair career opportunity, because it takes perspective from different angles and is more accurate and perfect. There were other factors too like, compensation and benefits, a company’s business outlook, and work-life balance etc. However, these points were relegated to a lesser important point.

Members’ Motivation

Survey carried out amongst officers of Romanian Army suggested the following factors that increase/decreases the motivation; 1. Work and workplace Characteristics, 2. Seniors Commander’s behavior, 3. The behavior of co-workers, 4. Inequity, 5. The possibility of professional advancement, 6. Merit Recognition, 7. The possibility of personal development etc.

It is very interesting to notice that members’ motivation largely depends upon senior Commanders’ behavior. Five out of other seven factors of members’ motivation are closely related to the advantages of 360DA

159 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness mentioned in previous chapter. Some senior officer opined that in the present system, the rated officer always remains in tension due to the fear of getting high or low grading from IOs (Rezaul Majid, 2019). His sole job throughout the year was to make sure that IO is not unhappy on him on anything. This led to skewing of loyalty to individual IO instead of Organization, which should have been otherwise. Some other senior officer opined that being very much grading conscious, the officer failed to contribute professionally to the organization (Alimul Amin, 2019). However, under 360DA, a ratee does not have remain to in tension, because he will be assessed from multiple direction. An individual can freely approach to his assignments and perform better. Therefore, it is imperative to say that 360DA would increase members’ motivation which in turn would increase the organizational effectiveness.

Acceptability of 360DA

Current PES allows only one directional observation; that is from the supervisor or superior. The peers and subordinates’ views are not taken. Therefore, technically the PES becomes incomplete. Though many researchers said that military leadership takes all the responsibility for failures, therefore under command’s consent is not required. But the reality is different. A leader, who is well accepted by under command can perform far better than any other insupportable leader.

It was quite surprising that most of the mid-level officers were very much enthusiastic to rate their peers. One of the ex-service chiefs was vehemently supported introduction of 360DA while the other felt that BD Army is not yet ready for 360DA now. However, both strongly recommended that down to earth officers should be chosen and be given the leadership role. This statement is conflicting. If we need down to earth officer, is it not better have a formal feedback from peers and under-commands? As the arguments goes on, it is better to include feed backs from all angles to get better pictures of future leaders. 360DA would generate more opportunities to select more down to earth leaders.

160 Many senior officers have expressed their concerns about the inclusion of 360DA in Bangladesh Army. In their view, our society/organization is not yet ready to accept this kind of cultural shift. There are few reasons for this. Firstly, people are not habituated to accept criticism from our under- commands right away. Secondly, under-command may also take chance when given with the opportunities to influence the senior’s career. The so- called ‘be a good man culture’- might influence a Rater not to reflect the original picture of the ratee. This phenomenon might negatively influence the organizational effectiveness of Bangladesh Army. The is also a very correct assessment of the current situation. For these reasons, there can be a transition time for switching from one system to another system. The old system can simultaneously run with the new system for couple of years.

It was found that there lies a perception gap between the very senior officers and the serving senior/mid-level officers. This might be the result of the generation gap. The issue of generation gap may need to be accepted. It is better to give in and welcome the new ideas and systems. Because the future will be led by the group of officers who are willing to take it as a mainstream system. The new generation officers are likely to be more conversant with IT and likely to accept systems which is dynamic, fast and transparent. However, there is also a need for educating the officers and the undercommands about the 360DA itself. A pilot project may solve the issue.

360DA had positively touched all the indicators of organizational effectiveness. In addition, a significant percentage of serving officers are also willing to embrace the system (Survey Report-1). It showed an overwhelming support for 360DA. It may also address many of the shortcomings of the current PES. It is needless to mention that current PES had very meticulously served the requirements of organization /top leadership for quite a few years. But it is no more supporting the leadership. Therefore, considering the above three very vital factors, it can be asserted that 360DA will enhance the organizational effectiveness of Bangladesh Army.

161 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

Recommendations

Following recommendations can be implemented:

360DA should be introduced in BD Army to enhance its organizational effectiveness.

360DA as a pilot project spreading over a suitable duration (two/three years) should be implemented in any formation of Bangladesh Army.

The prevalent PES and the suggested 360DA should run simultaneously for a considerable period to ease the transition.

Conclusion

Mission accomplishment of Bangladesh Army largely hinges upon its choice of leaders. PES is an intricate issue dealing with identification, nourishment and promotion of such leaders. There is no denying that prevalent PES has been evolved through vivid analysis of organizational perspectives. However, evaluation is a dynamic process which finds new faces with every passage of time. 21st century is fast moving and Bangladesh Army need to adjust to it as quickly as possible. PES is expected to be satisfying and serving the best interests of Bangladesh Army.

Prevalent PES seemed to have outlived its goodness. It had very generously served the requirement of leadership of Bangladesh Army over a decade. However, with passage of time the PES has become predictable and subjected to be manipulated. The prevailing culture of playing safe and over-grading was seriously hampering the credibility of the current PES

The researcher then went for searching a new model of PES which would have addressed the various shortcomings of prevalent PES. The parameters that were set to find the new models; namely, enhancement of job satisfaction, fostering of Esprit-de-corps, options for regular counselling, regard for peers & subordinate, dynamism of system, automation and

162 lastly the achievement of Bangladesh army’s goals. He went on finding 360DA to be an appropriate tool to address the most of the shortcomings of existing PES.

In adopting the 360DA in Bangladesh Army, few challenges are likely to arise. The research identified and quantitatively validated few, namely lack of mental flexibility of the users, tendency to retain ‘our time’ practices, incorrect sense about retention of traditions, lack in organizational capacity and weakness of R&D in Bangladesh Army, lack of automation, generation gap etc.

References

1. Alexandrou, Bartle and Holmes. (2001). Human Resource Management in the British Armed Forces: Investing in the Future. London: Frank Cass Publishers.

2. Alexander, DM. 2006. How do 360 degree performance reviews affect employee attitudes, effectiveness and performance. United States: University of Rhode Island. 11p.

3. Armstrong, M. Armstrong’s Handbook of Performance Management: An Evidence-Based Guide to Delivering High Performance. London: Kogan Page Publishers, 2009

4. Bangladesh Army Officer’s Performance Report (OPR), BAFY-2086 (2007).

5. Bracken, D.W. (1996). Multisource (360-degree) feedback: Surveys for individual and organizational development. In A. I. Kraut (Ed.), Organizational surveys: Tools for assessment and change(pp. 117– 143). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

6. Brutus, S., Fleenor, J. and McCauley, C.D. (1996), “Self-other rating discrepancy in 360-degree feedback: an investigation of demographic

163 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

and personality predictors”, Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, San Diego, CA, April.

7. Choon, K. and Embi, A. (2012) Subjectivity, Organizational Justice and Performance Appraisal: Understanding the Concept of Subjectivity in Leading Towards Employees Perception of Fairness in the Performance Appraisal’, Social and Behavioral Sciences, 62(24), pp.189-193.

8. Church, A. H., & Bracken, D.W. (1997). Advancing the state of the art of 360-degree feedback. Group & Organization Management, 22(2), 149–161. doi:10.1177/1059601197222002.

9. Deb, T. (2009) Managing Human Resources and Industrial Relations. Delhi: Excel Books India

10. Dessler, Gary. (2005). Human Resource Management. New York: Prentice Hall Incorporated

11. Espinilla, M., Andres, R., Martinez, J. and Martinez, L. (2013) A 360-degree performance appraisal model dealing with heterogeneous information and dependent criteria‘, Information Sciences, 222(4), pp.459-471.

12. Interview of Lieutenant General Shafiqur Rahman, afwc, psc Chief of General Staff, Bangladesh Army, Interview, Dhaka: 16 May 2019

13. Interview of Major General Wakeruzzaman, psc, Military Secretary; Bangladesh Army, Interview, Dhaka: 16 April 2019

14. Interview of Major General Md Moshfequr Rahman, SUP, ndc, psc, Commander Logistics Area, Interview, Bangladesh Army, Interview, Dhaka: 11 September 2019

15. Interview of Brigadier General Gazi Nahidur Rahman, afwc, psc; ex P-4 in UN, Interview, Dhaka: 13 June 2019

164 16. Interview of Brigadier General Rezaul Majid, ndc, afwc, psc Commander, 14 Independent Engineers Brigade; Interview, Dhaka: 16 May 2019

17. Interview of Brigadier General Mustafizur Rahman, hdmc, afwc, psc, phD Commander 46 Independent Infantry Brigade, Interview, Dhaka: 16 May 2019

18. Interview of Colonel Alimul Amin, psc, Senior Instructor, Defence services Command and Staff College. Interview, Dhaka: 16 May 2019

19. Interview of Colonel Mahoomd awc, psc. Senior Instructor, Defence services Command and Staff College. Interview, Dhaka: 16 May 2019

20. Interview of Lieutenant Colonel Ehsanul Haque Bhuiyan, psc, phD, Engrs, Assistant Military Secretary-A; Bangladesh Army, Interview, Dhaka: 16 April 2019

21. Islam, Major Mohammed Reazul. (2016). Revisiting Performance Evaluation System Of Officers In Bangladesh Army- A Quest For Enhanced Effectiveness. Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur, Individual Research Paper

22. John Dowry (1991). Management in the Armed Forces, Pakistan: Army Education Press.

23. Lepsinger, R. Lucia, D. (2009) The Art and Science of 360 degree Feedback. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

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165 360 Degree Assessments of Officers of Bangladesh Army- A Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

26. Monowar, Additional Secretary. (2009). Performance Based Evaluation System for Bangladesh Civil Service. Dhaka.

27. Rowland, Kendrith M. Et Al. (1980). Current Issues in Personnel Management. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Author

Colonel Md Mafizul Islam Rashed afwc, psc was commissioned in the Corp of Infantry on 13 December 1996. He served in three infantry units and commanded an Infantry Battalion. Besides, he was a Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade and a Deputy Assistant Military Secretary in Military Secretary’s Branch, Army Headquarters. He performed as a Directing Staff in the School of Infantry and Tactics and Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur. He completed two tenures under UN umbrella; as a contingent member in United Nations Operation in D R Congo (MONUSCO) and as a Military Observer in Darfur, Sudan (UNAMID).

He is a graduate of Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur and obtained his Master of Defence Studies from National University, Bangladesh. He is also a graduate of Armed Forces War Course from National Defence College and currently perusing Master of Philosophy in Security and Development under Bangladesh University of Professionals. He is now working as the Colonel Staff of an Infantry Division.

E-mail: [email protected]

166 ENHANCING PROFESSIONALISM OF CONTEMPORARY OFFICERS OF BANGLADESH ARMY THROUGH A REGULATED PROFESSIONAL AMBITION

Colonel Golam Kibria Zaman, afwc, psc

Introduction

Professionalism is one of the cornerstones of military profession. Over a period, coupled with organizational expansion, Bangladesh (BD) Army’s engagements in various professional and extra-professional affairs have been diversified. Besides, digital ingress, socio-economic change, corporate boom and many such events may have also contributed to a ‘change’ in the make-up of the contemporary officers.

The pursuit of professionalism should be a mutually assuring attribute between the individual and organization. The individual has duty to pursue the professional competence, and the organization should create enabling conditions to pursue professionalism. In some recent studies, researchers have pointed out a ‘change’ in professionalism both for BD Army and beyond. While many studies allude to over-materialistic demands as reasons for this ‘change’, any solution has to take into account the realities around. Military society is a sub-set of the larger society from where it draws the human resources. If materialism is the current social trend, military cannot be immune to that. The assertion that the professionalism is changing (or declining), and stopping only in that finding, can only perpetuate, if not further aggravate, its contemplated decline. Therefore, it may be important to ask alternative questions: is the organization failing to understand and serve the exact needs of the society and these officers? Could we bridge the gap between organization’s expectation and these officers’ demands? Could we regulate the contemporary officers’ ambitions and steer them

167 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition to desired professionalism? Or, may be, is it time to redefine or customize the meaning of professionalism in BD Army? Attempt to find answers of these questions may help the organization adopt a practicable way to reinvigorate military professionalism amongst the contemporary officers. This paper is an effort to find such solution (s), and the scope has been limited to BD Army’s context only.

Objectives General

To examine if professionalism of the BD Army officers could be enhanced through carefully regulating their ambitions.

Specific

• To study Army’s expected form of a professional officer. • To study ambitions of contemporary officers. • To identify the gap and measures to bridge the gap between organization’s professional interests and individual’s ambitions through a regulating mechanism.

Review of Literature

The socio-economic environment is changing fast and it has impacted the motivation of the members of BD Armed Forces. Based on this assertion, Hossain (2017) in his dissertation paper has talked about organisation’s role of keeping the members motivated. He has found out that the socio- economic changes do impact the motivation of officers. He has identified the importance of correct motivation and grooming in the early years of an officer’s career. He has also talked about the importance of positive working conditions, interpersonal relationship, and the senior’s “pivotal role in embracing changes by providing organizational support and

168 encouragement while ensuring continued emphasis on retaining core values and ethics of the Armed Forces”. He has specifically mentioned about an assured career progression, availability of married accommodation and reduction of the gap between government and private sector salary.

Sometimes the perception of professionalism of an officer can be influenced by the environment he/she lives in. Haydar (2016) conducted research on ‘young officers of Bangladesh Army and the looking-glass self-theory: impact on their professionalism’. He hypothesized that the professionalism of Young Officers’ of Bangladesh Army depended on their perceptions of how their seniors judge them. He related his research with Charles Horton Cooley’s (1902) ‘looking-glass self-theory’. He established a relation between self-esteem and young officers’ level of professionalism. He also mentioned that young officers’ self-efficacy was directly proportional to their own perception of their seniors’ judgement. Both conclusions were empirically proved.

In his paper on ‘Addressing varied motivation of young officers in Infantry battalion and the response options to meet the challenges of 21st century’. Rashid (2013) wrote on Officers’ attitude towards professionalism on return from Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The changes identified in the working environment of RAB from that of Army were more freedom of work, high risk scenario, real life job events, and tangible result and reward systems. He also discussed that the officers went through a “drastic shift from autonomous environment of RAB to a hugely regulated regimental life in Army”. Although the researcher talked about the materialistic make- up of the officers reverted from RAB, he did not have any suggestion for improvement.

Sufian (2013) researched on the monthly salary of mid-level officers of BD Army, and its effects on their professional and social behaviours. He presented a comparative statistics of salaries between BD Army and other public/private sectors. In his findings, he pointed out that monetary privileges affected the professionalism. His research was conducted before

169 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition the latest pay commission was adopted. Therefore, much of the findings may not be as relevant now as they were in 2013. Much in the same line, Ahmed (2013) studied the impact of materialistic attitude on attracting quality officer candidates for defence services in Bangladesh. He analysed the declining trend of quality candidates for defence services due to materialistic attitude of the young generation.

There is a dichotomous relation between professionalism and materialism. Based on this theme, 9 Infantry Division (2012) presented an AHQ Project Study period paper. It was argued in the paper that while materialism was ubiquitous, there was a level beyond which personal and organizational goals conflicted. Relating it to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need, the paper identified insecurity in job, sense of insecurity in career progression, frustration upon organization as a profession, societal clash within the family, premature and prolonged non-military exposure and declining professional ethos/values as the main causes of driving the officers towards materialism. The paper also asserted that materialism could seriously hamper military professionalism. As solutions, the paper suggested to ensure job security, establish a post-retirement rehabilitation program and offer professional incentives amongst others. Few other formations had also conducted studies on the issues related to professionalism. In 2013, 19 Infantry Division studied the ‘present make-up of the officers of Bangladesh Army’ where materialism was identified as one of the barriers to professionalism. Similarly, 55 Infantry Division carried out a study in 2014 on the ‘existing command climate’ and concluded amongst other things that materialism and engagement in non-professional activities were impediments to professionalism. Besides those structured studies, officers’ professional performance was allegedly found declining in various training institutions (such as in DSCSC and SI&T). The officers were squarely accused of carrying very shallow professional knowledge and exhibited less resolve to overcome their weaknesses.

The host of researches conducted on related topics suggest that the area of study has interested many researchers. However, almost all of

170 them have resorted to establishing the fact that the change in military professionalism is due to the individual’s pursuit of materialistic gain or due to socio-economic changes in the society. The solutions suggested have been mostly about raising the salary and providing motivation by senior officers. Whether or not organization could enhance the professionalism by blending organizational and individual need has not been specifically studied. An overall lift in the salary is a lengthy process and beyond Army’s purview. Providing motivation is also a too simplistic solution. Therefore, it is important to study the role the organization can play to enhance the professionalism, while accepting the social change as a fact. Hence, this research has been undertaken to find the relationship between the two variables.

Research Methodology

This is a descriptive research with cross-sectional design. For the purpose of this research a mixed-method approach (combination of quantitative and qualitative research) has been followed. Being a descriptive research, no hypothesis has been made; rather, objectives have been pursued in the form of questions. This research has been conducted based on the assumption that there is a gap between the organizational expectation from an officer and the individual aspiration of an officer from organisation. The contemporary officers have been the case, and from a population of approximately 1000, a sample of 238 has been tested. Besides, 52 senior-mid level officers have been surveyed, 7 officers interviewed, and 10 officers have participated in an FGD. Number of literatures have been studied as a part of content analysis. A psychometric scale (Likert Scale) has been followed for most questions. However, some questions also contain a single-response ordinal (rating) scale. The data acquired then have been analyzed using both Microsoft Excel and default software of Google Form. With 90% confidence level, the calculated margin of error for sample size is 4.28%, which is acceptable. While conducting research, first the definition of professionalism has been conceptualized; next, the

171 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition expectation of organisation from an officer has been identified; and last, the aspirations of the contemporary officers have been identified. The results show that the contemporary officers aspire for things that are different from what the organisation expects from them.

Understanding of Professionalism: A Study of Universal and Organisational Perspectives

This part of the study has been focused on answering the question if the definition of professionalism has changed over time, or if ithas varied between the universal and native perception. To do that first a literature study has been conducted to define the universal concept of professionalism. This has followed a survey to understand the way BD Army perceives professionalism, and if it is consistent with the universal perception. In the third tier, another survey has been conducted to identify the differences between the contemporary officers’ perception of professionalism and the foregone two. The subsequent paragraphs contain summary of the findings.

Understanding Professionalism – A Universal Perspective (Based on Literatures)

A plethora of books, articles and journals have defined professionalism. For example, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines professionalism as “the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterise or mark a profession or a professional person”, and it defines a profession as “a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation.” Whereas, the Cambridge Dictionary defines professionalism as “the combination of all the qualities that are connected with trained and skilled people.” In both definitions, one attribute is common – quality. Naturally, question may arise, what constitutes ‘quality’. Cambridge Dictionary, in this regard, mentions skill and training to build quality. However, professionalism may entail more than skill and training.

172 Every profession has some areas of uniqueness. Therefore, it is difficult to device a list that can serve the demand of all kinds of profession. Samuel P Huntington (1986) describes professionalism as a set of characteristics -“a profession is a peculiar type of functional group with highly specialised characteristics and professionalism is their manifestation”. Neil (Kokemuller, 2017) suggested appearance, accountability, competence, respectful communication and integrity as core concepts of a professional; whereas Joseph (2019) suggested ten characteristics of professionalism, and included ‘confidence’ amongst others while emphasizing further on ‘competence’. Porcupile (accessed 2019) has also defined professionalism as a combination of six attributes that are much similar to previous authors. However, this part of the paper discusses on ‘military professionalism’ in particular. The effort is to identify the skills that are shared by all military officers, but are not available with civilian professionals.

In 1957, Huntington (1957) published his famous book ‘The Soldier and the State’. Following that in 1960, Janowitz (1960) also published ‘The Professional Soldier’. These two books have stimulated considerable interest in examining military as a profession, officers as professionals and attributes of their professionalism. Huntington has argued, “the vocation of ‘officership’ meets the principal criteria of professionalism.” He proposed and explained three distinguishable characteristics of military professionalism: Expertise, Responsibility and Corporateness. Every profession has its own norms, which are more or less constant. These norms should survive time. However, military demands doing things that do not make sense to a civilian. What makes military job different from others is the high esteem an officer holds about the service. Serving in military cannot be based on the salary contract, or be bounded by self- parochial interests. As Huntington (1986) describes, “the motivations of an officer are technical love for his craft and the sense of social obligation to utilise this craft for the benefit of his society”. Whereas, Wakin (1986) values ‘competence’ as one of the core attributes of professionalism as he asserts, “the line between incompetence and immorality is thinner one in the military profession than in almost any other human vocation.” Laswell 173 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition

(1941) describes this competence as a specialised knowledge that “directs the application of violence under certain prescribed conditions.” Based on other similar literatures, the universal list of attributes defining military professionalism can be summarized as:

• Service before self • Competence and Specialised knowledge • Leadership quality • Moral values • Commitment • Composure • Sociability • Self-respect

Understanding Professionalism: BD Army’s Perspective

Attributes of Professionalism. To identify and measure the attributes of professionalism in BD Army’s context, Survey 2 has been conducted. Besides, interviews of some key informants and FGD of a group of officers have also been conducted. The respondents have been asked to suggest some attributes of professionalism according to their knowledge. The list has been long. However, they could be listed according to their thematic and global group to formulate a list (Table-1). It is to be noted that the highest percentage of respondents have identified service before self, competence, moral values, and compassion as the most important attributes of professionalism.

Indicators of Professionalism. To measure and identify a professional officer, some quantifiable indicators are required. In order to identify what constitutes professionalism for BD Army officers, Survey-2, FGD and KII have been conducted. Results are summarized in the following paragraphs.

Commitment-to-Task vis-à-vis Intellectual Ability. One of the important manifestations of professionalism of an officer is his/her

174 commitment to tasks. An officer should have the intellectual ability to understand the task and purpose, and an unwavering dedication for its accomplishment. Therefore, a professional Army officer should have a fine blend of commitment and high intellectual abilities. Regimental performance shows commitment, and course results signifies intellectual aptitude.

Officer’s Posting Pattern. Army functions as a system of systems, and every appointment constitutes an essential ingredient to that. There are no good or bad posts in the organisation. However, it has been a common practice to define some appointments as more demanding than others. Since Army is also a hierarchical organisation, it is natural that to climb up the ladder, some officers will have to prove better competence than others. Therefore, competent officers are posted to those demanding places where both ‘pride and pain’ are more. Figure 1 shows the Survey result that has also been in consonance (54% in favour, 16% did not comment) with this assertion.

Figure 1: Indicators of Military Professionalism – Posting Pattern Response on officer’s posting pattern should define his/her level of `professionalism`

Strongly Agree Agree 9.6% Disagree 15.4% No Comment Strongly 26.9% 44.2% Disagree

Definition of Good Posting. The researcher through his observation and informal discussion with other colleagues have assumed that the current understanding of good posting is somewhat different from what it used to be some fifteen to twenty years ago. Assuming that may have impacted the definition of the professional aspirations of officers, Survey-2 has been conducted. Figure 2 shows, majority of the respondents (58%) have

175 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition conferred that the traditional definition of good posting has not changed. However, a good percent (28.5%) officers, including the percentage decided not to comment, actually think that there has been a change. This data is important as it also signifies a change in the officers’ professional ambitions with time.

Figure 2: Survey Response on “Definition of ‘Good Posting’ has not changed”

13.5% 23.1% Agree Disagree 13.3% No Comment Strongly Disagree 44.2% Strongly Agree

Summary of Findings on Organisational Perspectives of Professionalism. The definition of professionalism has not changed over time. The findings of the research also suggest that the universal understanding of military professionalism is largely consistent with that of BD Army’s perception. Table 1 is a summary of attributes and indicators as derived through the research.

176 Table 1: Consistency between Universal and Surveyed Attributes of Professionalism Serial Attributes Attributes Indicators of of Military of Military Professionalism (BD Professionalism Professionalism Army) (Universal) (BD Army) 1. Service before self Service before self • Commitment 2. Competence Knowledge and (reflected in and Specialised Competence OPR) knowledge • Intellectual 3. Moral values Moral Values ability (reflected 4. Leadership quality Leadership quality in Course 5. Composure Soldierly Results) Composure 6. Sociability Compassion • Organisational 7. Self-respect Courage recognition 8. Commitment Commitment to (reflected in task ‘good postings’)

Understanding Professionalism: Contemporary Officers’ Perspectives

Serving in Army is less Appealing than Deputation. A survey (Survey-1) has been conducted where the samples have been asked to compare their aspirations/experience both within and outside the Army (mainly deputations). They have also been asked to reason why they liked what they did. The survey data shows that the contemporary officers are more interested in serving on deputation. Organisations like RAB, DGFI, PGR and SSF are more appealing to them than serving in Army. The reasons for such liking are diverse in nature (Table-2). However, there is also a substantial percentage of officers who are more willing to stay within Army than serving elsewhere.

177 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition

Table 2: Areas the Contemporary Officers find deputation more Appealing than Regimental Duty (Survey) Appeals of Deputation Category The nature of duty of an agent looks adventurous The dress-up and posture of an agent look attractive Innocuous This is an escape from mundane regimental jobs The officer is always around VVIPs and gets lot of exposures The frequent foreign trips and extra allowances make it a great package Pernicious It offers freedom both financially and professionally An officer carries a lot of power and creates good connections everywhere

Apathy for Regimental Service. Contrary to the above picture, officers do not find unit service very interesting. Being asked about their likings in doing regimental duties, majority (more than 60%) have opined that they think people who are posted outside units are luckier. This may be out of the stress they have experienced in the unit largely due to shortage of officers. However, officers also may feel disinterested in regimental service due to over-commitment, lack of sense of purpose, and a low gain versus pain ratio (FGD). Officers also often compare their lives with their colleagues who are materially in a better position (FGD). Besides, there is also apparently a lack in standards within the organisation.

Figure 3: Survey-1 Response on Interest in Serving in the Units Response on “those people are lucky, who are posted anywhere except Unit’’ No comment

Strongly disagree 14.5% 24.7% Disagree Agree 21.7% 10.2% Strongly agree 28.9%

178 Too Early Sense of Materialism. At certain stage of life (usually as a senior mid-ranking officer or later), officers fight with different realities of life. Therefore, it is very natural to be materialistic at that stage. However, in Survey-1, officers are found to get materialistic even at an early stage. Most of the officers have expressed their interest to avail a UN Mission within first four years. This is the formative stage of an officer. Therefore, it is expected that officers should concentrate more in learning their jobs and do good in professional courses to build their careers.

Figure 4: Response on Interest in Availing an Early UN Mission Response on ``those people are lucky, who could avail a UN Mission within the first 4 years`` Agree 11.1% Strongly Agree 36.6% No comment 19.1% Disagree Strongly disagree 31.9%

Regulating Professional Ambition: A Way Ahead Organisational Expectation and Officers’ Aspirations- Areas of Divergence and Convergence

In foregone parts, it has been identified that Army’s expectations from a professional officer has not changed much over time. Army asan organisation still values competence, leadership quality, human quality, intellectual ability and commitment to service above all. Survey results show that Army still expects an officer to have a fine blend of regimental and course performance. The age-old definitions of ‘good posting’ still hold good; however, there have been some departures at the execution level. While, some of these departures are unavoidable, the lesser is better.

179 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition

The contemporary officers have expressed their aspirations and understanding of professionalism. Largely, officers are more interested to serve on deputation outside Army in SSF/PGR/ASU/DGFI/RAB/ BGB etc. There is no denying the fact that these organisations play a very important role both institutionally and nationally. However, they are not classical military duty for which Army officers should be so interested, and that too at an early stage. Therefore, an important question is: why are the contemporary officers so motivated to serve those organisations than that of Army? Survey shows that the officers find those places adventurous, with good financial package, rewarding with good base of power and offering more flexibility compared to Army regimental jobs.

Areas of Divergence. So, what are the areas of divergence between the organizational expectations and officers’ aspirations? As identified by this research, they are:

• Officers want to have more freedom of action, flexibility of tasks, adventure and power; the core army life (regimental) is rigid and monotonous.

• Officers are more interested in good administrative facilities including financial package; army doesn’t offer that. That is why officers are more interested to avail early UN mission and serve on deputation.

• Officers find many postings within Army ‘honourable’; however, they don’t think those should be the yardstick to measure someone’s professionalism.

Areas of Convergence. As opposed to the conflicting stands between the organisation and the contemporary officers, there are some complementary areas too. • Both the contemporary officers and the organisation value the age old definitions of ‘good posting’.

• A large percentage of officer still finds regimental duties appealing.

180 Many would prefer to stay and serve within Army than on deputation.

• Both organisation and the contemporary officers think continuous professional education is important to enhance professionalism.

Relationship of Professionalism and Professional Ambition

It is important to have career dreams in a profession. Officers should have ambition to serve competitive places and rise higher. This research suggests, the contemporary officers pursue things those are not professionally rewarding for them in the long run. According to the indicators of professionalism, as have been identified in this research, the contemporary officers have been found lacking the motivation to do good in regimental duties and professional courses. Army, on the other hand, may not have given enough focus on the arrangements of making the high demanding appointments appealing that could allure the contemporary officers to serve in those competitive places, and be proud of their achievements. If these needs could be met through a regulatory mechanism, automatically officers would be inspired to pursue professional excellence.

Regulating Professional Ambition

As determined in this research, there are both areas of divergence and convergence between the organizational idea of professionalism and contemporary officers’ idea of professional aspirations. Some factors amongst them are beyond Army’s control (like increasing salary or a huge arrangement of administrative facilities). However, there are many factors which the Army can regulate to match its need of professionalism with officers’ aspirations.

Delineating and Upholding Rules and Standards. Instilling professionalism in contemporary officers needs a holistic approach. The first step towards that may be to go back to basics and instill professional

181 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition values. A Senior Army officer suggests “Army should culture its basics. It should foster equality, justice and merits. There should not be any favouritism or nepotism. Rather, it should provide confidence amongst officers through professional excellence.” The next step is to clearly delineate the qualification criteria and maintain the standard religiously. Once set, standards must be told, inspired and maintained. This would work as the guiding compass for officers to pursue professionalism.

Rewarding Professionalism. To press on the need for military professionalism, Army has to make the professional activities more rewarding. This is beyond contention that in whatever way one pursues profession, the ultimate aim of every officer is to reach a higher rank (FGD). To reach a higher rank, more than anything an officer needs is competence, and attaining a certain level of competence needs a progressive excellence in military career. It is generally not possible to suddenly become a professionally competent officer by pursuing alternative means disregarding the main; one has to stay focused in all tiers of career to develop professionalism. However, as identified in the research, many contemporary officers are seemingly not aware of this fact. On the contrary, the realities they pursue can also not totally be ignored. If it is possible to motivate these officers to pursue Army’s defined way of professionalism, then both parties can have a win-win situation. Some such steps may be:

Making Deputation Competitive. Sending officers on deputation, for BD Army, is an undeniable event. It is neither possible to insulate the interaction between military and civilian world, nor it is desirable. Certain exposures offer experience as well. Since the realities surrounding the need to send a good number of officers on deputation cannot be ignored, Army may make it very competitive (FGD). Accordingly, a junior officer may only be sent on deputation if he/she acquires a very high degree of professional excellence as reflected in his/her course results and OPR. A certain percentage of TRACE marks can be a good yardstick to create such panel. In that case, the interested officer will automatically exhibit higher professional excellence to avail the opportunities of deportation.

182 Making the ‘Good Posting’ More Appealing. Although majority samples in the survey have shown their interest to serve in high demanding appointments, the percentage of officers unwilling/less interested is also significant. It has been observed that many ‘good postings’ in Army cannot ensure dedicated administrative facilities like vehicle, office space or other routine amenities for which officers are naturally interested. As far as the aspirations go, Army can try to add some facilities rationally at per with the postings of RAB, BGB or SSF/PGR (FGD). There can be increased foreign trips in those appointments, and an elevated social status for the officers serving in those appointments. Officers posting pattern should speak about his/her level of professionalism. It is encouraging that BD Army has already realized that need, and have provisioned better transport for Commanding Officers of various units. A survey conducted amongst the senior-mid-ranking officers show that officers’ posting pattern should reflect his/her level of professionalism.

Figure 5: Response on relating posting pattern with professionalism

Agree Unable to comment 45.1% 35.7% Strongly agree Disagree 11.1% Strongly Disagree

Motivating in Military Activities (Herzberg’s Theory)

• In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioural scientist proposed a two- factor theory or the motivator-hygiene theory. This theory has a relevance to this context as, according to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there are other job factors that prevent (Figure 6). According to Herzberg, the opposite of “Satisfaction” is “No satisfaction” and the opposite of “Dissatisfaction” is “No Dissatisfaction”.

183 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition

• Army as an organisation should focus on enhancing the motivator factors while addressing the Hygiene factor. Achievement, recognition and respect are the principle areas on which Army should work. Officers should be motivated to pursue respect more than wealth. However, this is also fact that the manifestation of respect has a worldly dimension, and without fulfilling that people are not likely to feel motivated. While pursuing respect depends on individual, providing the worldly recognition is Army’s responsibility.

Figure 6: Herzberg’s two-factor theory

my Ar should should enhance maintain

Continuing Professional Education (CPE)

• In all the definitions of profession, knowledge and skill have appeared as a common requirement. Military professionalism is inextricably linked with education and training. Because…“the professional man is an expert with specialised knowledge and skill in a significant field of human endeavor. His expertise is acquired only by prolonged education and experience” (Huntington, 1986). The skill of the officer is neither a matter of pure science nor an art. “It is instead an extraordinarily complex intellectual skill requiring comprehensive study and training. The intellectual content of the military profession requires the military officer to devote about one-third of his professional life toformal

184 schooling, probably a higher ratio of education time to practice time than in any other profession” (Huntington, 1986). The same has been reiterated by many senior BD Army officers.

• CPE is different from regular training courses where an officer would need to study continuously and in all ranks. Irrespective of place of postings, a mechanism should be developed that officers undergo professional education regularly. It may be conducted online and in increased frequency. The result of CPE should be recorded and may have some bearing in the overall career progression of an officer. Besides the professional studies, CPE should also include legal, moral and religious matters that will act as the ultimate motivational tool.

Responding to the Materialistic Demands. While officers should pursue their excellence and do good in their professional courses, Army may meet their materialistic demand of recognition by sending them for foreign courses as much as possible (FGD). At one hand, this will increase the military diplomacy and contribute to the overall professional development of Army, on the other hand, officers will feel motivated to do good. The same has been reflected in the survey too. The same trend may be followed for the high demanding postings as well.

Welfare Paradox. No welfare program can satisfy hundred percent recipients. This has also been amply supported by the survey results as exactly the same percentage of respondents have given their opposing views. However, when speaking contextually, Army should provide a selective rise of welfare for selective appointments to make those more competitive. The scale of rise should be carefully controlled so that it satisfies the officers’ materialistic demands but doesn’t promote a materialism race with other organisations. Too much of such concession may give rise to a materialistic greed, one that Army wants to avoid so much.

185 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition

Figure 7: Response on raising the welfare standard of Army

Army should provide a selective rise welfare for some 23.1% appointments to make those more competitive 30.8% Army should continue its present trent of welfare efforts Army should raise its wellfare orientation in general to 30.8% 15.4% serve the materialistic demands of junior/mid-ranking officers Army has no reason to worry and change; there is no reason for a materiastic race

Recommendations

The paper recommends the following:

• Army may introduce Continuous Professional Education (CPE) program for the officers at different tiers.

▪▪ CPE program should include all Army officers irrespective of their places of posting. The CPE may be conducted online and officers’ CPE performance may be endorsed in OPR/TRACE. ▪▪ The conduct and the content of CPE will vary according to the rank and appointment, with some commonalities. Therefore, a separate study may be conducted by formations and ARTDOC on the feasibility and exact mode of CPE. • Army may make all ‘desired’ deputations very competitive. Officers may be required to attain a very high grade (a plus mark) in professional courses and high TRACE (above 80%) to be selected for those deputations. • Army may provide a selective rise of welfare to the high demanding appointments within Army. In that:

▪▪ The appointments may only be meant for the officers who have attained a recognizably higher degree of professionalism. The traditional qualification requirement may be observed strictly or MS Branch may carry out a study on any adjustment needed in this context.

186 ▪▪ The status of administrative facilities like accommodation, transportation, office space etc may be ensured/elevated for selective appointments (‘good postings’) in a manner that makes a difference with others. Besides, there may be increase of foreign courses/visits and, if possible, increase of allowances for those posts. A formation study may be conducted to ascertain if such rise would generate a materialistic race amongst officers rather than curbing that.

Conclusion

The definition of professionalism has not changed over time; however, its manifestation may have been diversified. As found out through content analyses, survey, KII and FGD, the set of attributes that define the universal concept of military professionalism and the definition of professionalism perceived by BD Army are generally consistent. Therefore, the root of the problem of a ‘change’ in professionalism does not lie in its definition, rather in the way they have been persuaded and the enabling conditions created for their persuasion.

There are some divergences between Army’s expected attributes of an officer and the contemporary officers’ aspirations from Army. While the identified aspirations have similarities in many cases, there are few important areas where the acquired data show departures. These lead them to prefer serving in SSF/PGR/RAB/DGFI/BGB etc over army regiments and institutions. Many officers do not want course performances to be the yardstick of judging one’s professional competence and be a criterion for ‘good’ postings. This may be due to the fact that every such posts calls for sacrificing personal comfort, and undertaking a lot of pain in exchange of a very little reward (lack of motivation). However, a significant percentage of officers still find Army job interesting, and they agree that military education is an important way to develop professional competence.

187 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition

Army needs to step up to instill professionalism amongst the contemporary officers. This can be done by methodically regulating their ambitions into professional stream, while satisfying them to a certain degree in their aspirations. Army should recognise competence of an officer over everything. Since the contemporary officers prefer to serve on deputation, and Army cannot deny its necessity, the present trend will continue. Therefore, Army may make selection criteria of deputation very competitive by putting various professional qualifications as a requirement. This would automatically drive the aspirants to pursue professional excellence instead of the apathetic look they have presently on those qualifications. As the age-old definition of ‘good posting’ has largely remained same, and the contemporary officers find serving in those places honourable too, Army may make those appointments more appealing.

The society outside military provides a wide range of opportunities for which Army job seems monotonous. A large part of junior officers pursues those opportunities, or their equivalents, staying within the Army. For those officers, “it does not make a difference whether they are within the military or outside; they would go on to pursue their materialistic demands anyway. That is why motivation of a junior officer at a foundational stage is critical. Besides, the army should provide more authority to selected posts where responsibilities are also more, this would allow more sense of freedom and sense of purpose to the officers.

In military, professional education is a sine qua non to attain the required degree of professionalism. For that, CPE may be introduced, which is different from regular training courses where an officer would need to study continuously and in all ranks. Irrespective of place of postings, a mechanism should be developed so that officers undergo professional education regularly. It may be conducted online and in increased frequency. The result of CPE should be recorded and may have some bearing in the overall career progression of an officer. Besides the professional studies, CPE should also include legal, moral and religious matters that will act as the ultimate motivational tool.

188 The contemporary officers represent different generation and therefore motivating them needs also a tailored approach. Some recognition in materialistic form may be given to inspire them for professionalism. However, it is not easy to draw the thin line between meeting the demands of contemporary realities and promoting a new dimension of materialistic quest amongst officers. The cost of concession has to be weighed against its inherent danger of professional bankruptcy.

References

1. Freidson, E., 1999. Theory of professionalism: Method and substance. nternational review of sociology, 9(1), pp. pp.117-129.

2. Huntington, S. P., 1957. The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations. Revised ed. IL: Harvard University Press, 1957.

3. Huntington, S. P., 1986. Officership as a Profession. In: M. M. Wakin, ed. War, Morality, and the Military Profession. 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder, Colorado, USA: Westview Press, Inc.; Frederick A. Praeger, pp. 23-56.

4. Huq, M. R. et al., 2019. Attributes of Operational Leadership: A Bangladesh Armed Forces Perspective, Dhaka: National Defence College.

5. Islam, M. N., 2014. Sampling and Sample Design. In: An Introduction to Research Methods. Dhaka: Mullick Brothers, pp. 163-164.

6. Janowitz, M., 1960. The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait. Revised ed. California: Free Press.

7. Joseph, C., 2019. Ten Characteristics of Professionalism. [Online] Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/10-characteristics- professionalism-708.html [Accessed 13 June 2019].

189 Enhancing Professionalism of Contemporary Officers of Bangladesh Army Through A Regulated Professional Ambition

8. Kokemuller, N., 2017. Cocepts of Professionalism. [Online] Available at: https://work.chron.com/concepts professionalism-15156. html [Accessed 13 June 2019]. 9. Lasswell, H. D., January 1941. The Garrison State. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 46(No. 4), pp. 455-468. 10. Pope C., S. Z. a. N. M., 2000. In: Analysing Qualitative Data. s.l.:British Medical Journal, pp. 114-116. 11. Porcupile, D. W., 2015. [Online] Available at: graduate.auburn.edu/ wp-content/uploads/2016/.../What-is-PROFESSIONALISM.pdf [Accessed 14 June 2019]. 12. The Open University, n.d. 6 Methods of Data Collection and Analysis. [Online] Available at: https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/ resource/view.php?id=52658 [Accessed 14 June 2019]. 13. Wakin, M. M., 1986. War, Morality, and the Military Profession. 2nd ed. Colorado: Westview Press, Fredrick A. Praeger.

Author

Colonel Golam Kibria Zaman, afwc, psc has been serving in BD Army for twenty-four years. He was commissioned on 13 December 1996 with 35 BMA Long Course in the Corps of Signals. He has attended all training courses typical to BD Army officers of his rank. In his career, hehas served in three signal regiments, including Commanding 3 Signal Battalion. His other mentionable service experience includes Grade-3 staff at AHQ, Platoon Commander BMA, Brigade Major of an independent brigade, Chief G-6 at MINUSMA and Directing Staff at DSCSC, Mirpur. Colonel Kibria is a graduate engineer in EECE (MIST). His post-graduations include MSc in Military Science (BUP), and MSc in Art and Science of Warfare from National Defence University (NDU), Pakistan. He is pursuing his MSc in Information System Security (MISS) from BUP. Currently, he is serving in the faculty of NDC (AFWC Wing).

190 ADOPTION OF EDUCATION 4.0 IN JOINT AND MAJOR TRAINING INSTITUTIONS OF BANGLADESH ARMED FORCES - CHALLENGES AND WAYS FORWARD

Lieutenant Colonel Shahriar Kabir, afwc, psc, Signals

Introduction

In 21st century technology has no boundaries. Rapid development of technology is taking over in all aspect. With the advancement of information technology (IT) the world has transformed from agricultural society to industrial society through IR which is widely known as Industry 4.0. Education 4.0 is a reply to the necessities of Industry 4.0 where technology and human being are united to facilitate new prospects (Hussin, 2018).

Education 4.0 is developed to create trained and qualified professionals who are prepared to work in a technology driven highly globalized world. It makes learning system more innovative and easily accessible. Contents can be logged on by the students any time and from anywhere to learn at their own pace (Fedena, 2018). Many countries have developed and modernized their education system with the advancement of technology. Few countries of south Asia like Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, etc. have taken steps to adopt Education 4.0 in their higher education system (Baskoro, 2018). Australian Defence College (ADC), US Army War College (Mallick, 2017), Command and Staff College-Pakistan and few other military training institutions in USA have already adopted technology based learning platform.

Bangladesh Armed Forces are also pursuing to digitalize its various sectors including professional training institutions. Education 4.0 is still an evolving concept and institutions dealing with professional training may lead the

191 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward change but the pace of this transformation should not be set in isolation. NDC is the pioneer to adopt Education 4.0 since 2019. Transformation of all military training institutions may not be a viable option. Other than NDC, Bangladesh Armed Forces have few joint and major training institutions where professional trainings are conducted. Mid-level professional training is conducted in Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC). Junior level professional training is also conducted for Bangladesh Army in ‘School of Infantry and Tactics’ (SI&T), for Bangladesh Navy in ‘Junior Staff Training Institute’ (JSTI) and for Bangladesh Air Force in ‘Command and Staff Training Institutions’ (CSTI). In the process of transformation these professional training institutions may be considered for adoption of Education 4.0 with their training system.

Review of Literature

Several online journals, publications and articles are consulted to find the concept of Education 4.0, its trends, benefits, application challenges and implementation method in the educational/training institutions. “Education 4.0 Made Simple: Ideas for Teaching” is consulted where study was done on the evolution of Education 4.0 in relation to the Industry 4.0 along with highlighting some trends of it (Hussin, 2018). “Education 4.0: New Challenge of Learning” is consulted where Education 4.0 is referred as the skill of building intelligent persons who are critical thinker, creative and innovative (Puncreobutr, 2016).

“Developing Blended Learning: A Digital Learning Platform for Army” has proposed to have a digital learning platform for Australian Army which will act as its intellectual backbone (Caligari and Mansted, 2017). TRADOC Pamphlet - 525-8-2 of U.S. Army is consulted where they have planned to use emerging technologies for the education purpose (TRADOC Pamphlet - 525-8-2, 2017). US Army higher education system has adopted technology based learning much before. US Army War College utilizes mobile device to get access to the course materials and Tablet computers

192 uses as notebooks in seminar rooms, lecture halls and libraries (Mallick, 2017).

“Digital Pedagogy - A Guide for Librarians, Faculty, and Students” is consulted where writer discussed about digital pedagogy and other methods like Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Flipped Classroom, open education resources and online learning object. Higher educational institutions are adopting those effective methods to develop their learning environment according to the need of industry 4.0 (University of Toronto Libraries, 2019).

“A Flipped Classroom Approach to Teaching Systems Analysis, Design and Implementation” is consulted. In flipped classroom, students acquire knowledge before the class and use classroom time to practice and apply concepts and ideas through interaction with peers and instructors. Students are provided with the reference materials before the class to gain a basic level of knowledge and understanding. Then classroom time can be utilized for deepen learning and improve higher-level cognitive skills (Tanner and Scott, 2015).

Methodology

This is a social science research which falls under broad classification of descriptive research. Mixed (both quantitative and qualitative) method is applied to analyze collected data.

Sources of Data Primary Data

Primary data is collected through surveys with self-administered questionnaires. Surveys on nine types of respondents were carried out. The respondents have been selected from joint and major military training institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces. 193 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

Secondary Data

Secondary data is collected from several books, periodicals, journals and open sources like online publications and internet.

Research Tools Interviews

There were 19 Interviewee and all were personally interviewed by the researcher with a standard open-ended structured questionnaire. Collected information and opinions were subjectively analysed to attain the findings.

Focus Group Discussion (FGD)

The researcher has conducted FGD. The objective was to find out the implementation challenges of Education 4.0 in joint and major military training institutions.

Personal Observation

Personal experience earned by working as an instructor in Signal Training Centre and School.

Education 4.0 and Its Necessities in Joint and Major Military Training Institutions Education 4.0

What is Education 4.0? Education 4.0 is the ability to unite the influence of technology, the necessity for focused and specialized quality, capability of Artificial

194 Intelligence and Machine Culture to comprehend learners’ requirements and combine all to form a system which will provide the utmost quality content, in a self-paced, anytime and anywhere mode, to the learner. It gives teachers, learners and educators access to the finest content from across the globe, in a boundary-less manner (Ponnadi, 2018).

Evolution of Education 4.0

Education 4.0 is the response to IR 4.0. The term “Industry 4.0” was revived in 2011 at the Hannover Fair, Germany and the IR 4.0 was publicly declared in Davos, Switzerland in 2016. The rapid progress of IR 4.0 also needs Education 4.0. The chronological development of Education 4.0 is shown in Table 1:

Table 1: Chronological Development of Education (Maria, Shahbodin and Pee, 2018) Revolution Method Technology Education 1.0 Dictation • Not allowed during Instructive education process Direct transfer of information Education 2.0 Progressivism • Limited access Begins to open to internet Education 3.0 Knowledge producing • Full access for knowledge Co-constructivism construction and transmission Education 4.0 Innovation producing • Always changing Replacing Classroom • Learners as major source of technology evolution Note: The table and data are taken from AIP Conference Proceedings 2016.

195 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

Education 4.0 in Higher Education and Military Training System Education 4.0 in Present Higher Education System

Many countries in the world have adopted Education 4.0 in their higher level of education structure in the form of ‘Education 4.0’ or any other digitalized platform. In UK, Nottingham Trent University, University of Northampton, University of Edinburgh and other universities have taken steps to adopt Education 4.0 concept in their education system (Davies, 2019). Germany is also establishing virtual environments in higher education in conjunction with Education 4.0 (Janssen at el, 2016). Thailand is preparing ‘Thailand 4.0’ through the reform of education system (Wittayasin, 2017).

Education 4.0 in Military Training System in the World

The US Military Academy, West Point is also following one of the most useful tools of Education 4.0- Flipped Classroom concept (Biering and Biering, 2017). Canadian Forces College has started following Education 4.0 concept utilizing Flipped Classroom to improve their military training modality for the professional (Chapnic, 2014). ADC has taken up five years development plan. It will enable more ‘connected’ approach in learning, particularly through the use of blogs, self-study sites, MOOC, video conferencing and social media (Australian Defence College, n.d.). During an interview conducted on 15 May 2019, Lieutenant Colonel Kibria Zaman, psc, Sigs (attended 2nd Command and Staff Course in Pakistan) stated that Command and Staff College, Quetta, Pakistan is also using digital platform for their training curriculum. All events, modules, assignments, etc. are conducted through a digital platform.

196 Feedback from Education 4.0 at NDC

A digital learning platform is created by NDC 4.0 for the course members. Changing the learning environment with technology is one of the prime outcomes of Education 4.0. About 89.2% respondents agreed/strongly agreed that NDC 4.0 has created a different learning environment (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Changing the Learning Environment of NDC (Author’s Survey)

10.8%

24.3% Strongly Agree Agree

Neutral 64.9%

Education 4.0 is a virtual lifelong learning platform, where student can have self-paced learning (Fisk, 2017). These can enhance the professional learning. About 89.2% respondents agreed/strongly agreed that NDC 4.0 has enhanced professional learning facilities for military personals (Figure 2).

197 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

Figure 2: Enhancement of Professional Learning Facilities by NDC 4.0 (Author’s Survey) 2.7% 2.7% 5.4%

16.2% Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree 73.0% Strongy Disagree

Learning Management System (LMS) is the most important tool in digital learning platform. LMS is beneficial for educational institutions. About 91.9% respondents agreed/strongly agreed that LMS in NDC 4.0 has made the training management more flexible and friendly (Figure 3).

Figure 3: LMS is a Flexible & Friendly Training Management System (Author’s Survey) 2.7% 5.4% Strongly Agree 29.7% Agree Neutral Disagree 62.2% Strongly Disagree

Flipped learning is a pedagogical approach where conventional notion of classroom-based learning is inverted, so that students are introduced to the learning material before class through the LMS. In NDC 4.0 flipped classroom method along with syndicate discussion with the peers are

198 arranged. 67.7% respondents agreed that this method has benefitted their learning. Besides, 63.9% respondents agreed that their learning capability have increased by flipped learning (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Flipped Learning in NDC 4.0 (Author’s Survey)

Flipped Learning is Beneficial Flipped Learning Incereased Learning Capability 2.7% 2.8%

Yes Yes 29.7% 33.3% Partially Partially 67.6% 63.9% No No

Necessities of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Military Training Institutions

Digital Bangladesh is one of the nation’s dreams. So, special emphasis is given on the application of digital technologies to realize Vision 2021. Bangladesh Armed Forces is also a part of Vision 2021 and digitization is also going on in almost all the sectors. Adopting Education 4.0 in professional military training institutions will be a milestone for Bangladesh Armed Forces. Presently the training institutions are either Education 3.0 or Education 2.0 standard, where only data facilities are available.

A survey was conducted to get the opinions on the benefit of adoption of Education 4.0 in joint and major military training institutions. 75.7% respondents think that digital platform can be beneficial in DSCSC and 64.9% respondents think that it can be beneficial in SI&T/JSTI/CSTI. Besides, from the feedback of NDC 4.0, it is found that the digital education platform can enhance professional learning. Thus to keep pace with the modern world and to create a self-paced learning environment for the new generation, it is necessary to adopt Education 4.0 in professional military training institutions.

199 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

The Challenges of Adopting Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Military Training Institutes Challenges of Adopting Education 4.0 in Military Training Institutions

Any change from the existing system always raises some level of challenges. Adopting Education 4.0 within any existing education system will also create implementation challenges for the military training institutions. Through FGD following probable implementation challenges are identified:

• Consensus of all to make a change. • Mind set up to adjust with technology driven education system. • All need to have required amount of IT knowledge. • Required infrastructure development. • Establishment of a data network. • Preparation of LMS. • Ensuring uninterrupted data connectivity. • Preparation of e-library. • Preparation of online training material. • Preparation of flipped classroom. • Arrangement of MOOC. • Establishment of paperless training management system. • Preparation of server based network. • Arrangement of user access platform (Laptop or Tab). • Financial issues.

Many military training institutions have already incorporated IT into their training system. Thus the challenges will be different based on present state. The challenges may be categorized in three groups:

200 • Individual challenge. • Institutional preparation challenge. • Directing Staff’s (DS’s)/ instructor’s challenge.

To find out the challenges - DSCSC, SI&T, JSTI and CSTI are considered separately.

Challenges in DSCSC

Separate survey conducted to find out the required implementation challenges in DSCSC. The survey outputs are portrayed in Table 2.

Table 2: Implementation Challenges in DSCSC Sl Challenges Response % 1. Consensus of all to make a change 15 27.78% 2. Mind set up to adjust with technology driven 34 62.96% education system 3. All need to have required amount of IT knowledge 36 66.67% 4. Required infrastructure development 35 64.81% 5. Establishment of a data network 25 46.30% 6. Preparation of LMS 32 59.26% 7. Ensuring uninterrupted data connectivity 30 55.56% 8. Preparation of e-library 29 53.70% 9. Preparation of online training material 27 50.00% 10. Preparation of flipped classroom 24 44.44% 11. Arrangement of MOOC 18 33.33% 12. Establishment of paperless training 19 35.19% management system 13. Preparation of server based network 17 31.48% 14. Arrangement of user access platform 23 42.59% (Laptop or Tab) 15. Financial issues 26 48.15% Note: Author’s Survey (Total Respondents 54)

201 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

The Education 4.0 implementation challenges in DSCSC according to the categories are:

Individual Challenge

Requirement of IT knowledge for all and adjustment of the mind-set with technology are found to be the prime challenges.

Institutional Preparation Challenge

In this category, required infrastructure development, preparation of LMS, ensuring uninterrupted data connectivity and preparation of e-library are most challenging. In case of DSCSC, establishment of a data network, preparation of flipped classroom, arrangement of MOOC, establishment of paperless training management system, arrangement of user access platform (Laptop or Tab) and financial issues are less challenging. From the survey it is found that respondents have identified the financial issues as less challenged for DSCSC. But it might be a major issue while implementation (Author’s comment).

DS’s Challenge

Preparation of online training materials is the most challenging part for DSs and it will require time to prepare.

Challenges in SI&T, JSTI and CSTI

Separate surveys were conducted to find the required implementation challenges in SI&T, JSTI and CSTI. The survey outputs are portrayed in Table 3.

202 Table 3: Implementation Challenges in SI&T, JSTI and CSTI SI&T JSTI CSTI

Sl Challenges % % % Response Response Response 1. Consensus of all to make a 7 28% 2 13% 6 28.57% change 2. Mind set up to adjust with 22 88% 10 63% 16 76.19% technology driven education system 3. All need to have required 18 72% 12 75% 12 57.14% amount of IT knowledge 4. Required infrastructure development 20 80% 10 63% 15 71.43% 5. Establishment of a data network 19 76% 8 50% 16 76.19% 6. Preparation of LMS 22 88% 11 69% 16 76.19% 7. Ensuring uninterrupted 16 64% 8 50% 10 47.62% data connectivity 8. Preparation of e-library 23 92% 8 50% 12 57.14% 9. Preparation of online 22 88% 9 56% 13 61.90% training material 10. Preparation of flipped classroom 19 76% 6 38% 10 47.62% 11. Arrangement of MOOC 7 28% 3 19% 7 33.33% 12. Establishment of paperless 12 48% 4 25% 8 38.10% training management system 13. Preparation of server based 17 68% 5 31% 13 61.90% network 14. Arrangement of user access 20 80% 6 38% 13 61.90% platform (Laptop or Tab) 15. Financial issues 17 68% 8 50% 12 57.14% Total Respondents 25 16 21 Note: Author’s Survey

203 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

The Education 4.0 implementation challenges according to the categories are:

Individual Challenge

For all institutions requirement of IT knowledge for all individual and adjustment of the mind-set with technology are found to be the prime challenges.

Institutional Preparation Challenge

For all institutions, required infrastructure development, establishment of a data network, preparation of LMS, preparation of server based network, preparation of e-library and financial issues are most challenging. Ensuring uninterrupted data connectivity is challenging for SI&T and JSTI but not for CSTI as they already have uninterrupted data connectivity. Arrangement of user access platform (Laptop or Tab) is challenging for SI&T and CSTI but JSTI already has the facilities for the students. Arrangement of flipped classroom is only challenging for SI&T as other two institutions have adequate technical support to prepare flipped classroom. Arrangement of MOOC and establishment of paperless training management system are less challenging for all institutions due to the objective of the courses.

Instructor’s Challenge

Preparation of online training materials are most challenging part for all institutions. Online effective training materials are very much essential for Education 4.0. Presently the institutions do not have any online training materials for the students.

Information Security Issues

Military training institutions dealing with training materials create concern for security issues. Depending on the level of training and handling of

204 sensitive reference materials will decide about the level of security. In Bangladesh Armed Forces, the higher level of professional training will generate higher security risks. During an interview conducted on 12 June 2019, Brigadier General Syed Sabbir Ahmed, afwc, psc (DS) stated that in case of NDC, Armed Forces War Course (AFWC) is facing challenges with the information security risks in NDC 4.0. Classified documents cannot be kept as reference material in LMS or e-library. Considering the facts, the risk in joint and major military training institutions are categorised in to two levels:

Mid-Level Information Security Risks

DSCSC conducts staff course, which deals with tactical level professional training. Here students are focused on many issues which required adequate protection measure against miss handling.

Low Level Information Security Risks

SI&T, JSTI and CSTI conduct junior level professional training where student officers are not much exposed to classified documents for training purpose. Thus during an interview conducted on 10 June 2019, Commander Z. A. Mahbub, Deputy Director Naval Training stated that the level of information security concern is less than DSCSC or AFWC.

Suggestive Methods for Adopting Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions

In the beginning of adoption process, the generalized challenges have to overcome by institutions. All members of the institutions must be convinced to make a paradigm shift from old system to digital system. Because of digitalization process, all need to adjust with the system. Initially all need to acquire basic workable IT knowledge to work on new platform.

205 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

Before the course, student may be informed to learn the basic requirement like Microsoft Office package. The individual level of challenges may be overcome by this process. While adopting Education 4.0, mid-level information security risks may be resolved by ensuring a secured network environment in DSCSC and low level information security risks may be resolved by ensuring a restricted network environment in SI&T, JSTI and CSTI.

Adoption of Education 4.0 in a Secured Network Environment

To prepare an Education 4.0 platform, the basic requirements are secured server based network with big data handling capability, LMS, flipped classroom, e-library, interactive training material/video, user access platform and uninterrupted high speed data connectivity. Above all, financial issue will be the deciding factor for implementation. The execution plan may be done in phases if there are budgetary issues. DSCSC DSs have reflected through a survey about the requirements of establishing a secured network environment (Figure 5). From which the priority of need can be determined in the adaptation process.

Figure 5: Requirements in DSCSC to Establish a Secured Network

206 Environment (Author’s Survey)

From the survey result the Education 4.0 adoption requirements can be categories into three groups:

• Short Term Requirements. The requirements are - secured server based network, uninterrupted data connectivity and e-library. These are basically part of institutional preparation challenges. These are needed to be implemented immediately for initial establishment.

• Mid Term Requirements. The requirements are - preparation of online training materials, preparation of LMS and flipped classroom. Here preparation of online training material is the challenge for DSs and preparation of LMS including flipped classroom are institutional challenge.

• Long Term Requirements. The requirements are- open online courses and paperless education system. Both are institutional challenges. These may not be applicable for DSCSC. Paperless education system may not be fully applicable for DSCSC as presently the course has a demand of writing lot of assignments.

Short Term Implementation Plan

The short term requirements can be fulfilled in this phase. To prepare a secured network environment ‘Thin Client’ concept may be adopted.

• ‘Thin Client’ Concept. ‘Thin Client’ is a new concept in the network environment. During an interview conducted on 18 May 2019, Lieutenant Colonel Moshiul Alam, psc, AC (attended 2nd Command and Staff Course in Pakistan) stated that Command and Staff College, Quetta, Pakistan is using ‘Thin Client’ technology in their training system. ‘Thin Clients’ are computers that have tiny or no processing power or storage of their own. The server performs all the processing.

207 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

They only have a screen, keyboard, a mouse and enough computer power to handle display and communications (Instructional Design Australia, n.d.). The student officers may be provided with a ‘Mobile Thin Client’ (Laptop) which only can access to server through intranet. It can provide additional security to the system. Each student officer will have specific username and password to get connected in the system. LMS may be accessed through server where required reference materials may be uploaded. Exercise papers and related references may be uploaded prior to any exercise.

• Establishment of E-library. E-library may be established with all additional resource materials which are required for courses.

• User Access Platform. Mobile thin client may be provided to student officers for accessing the system.

Mid Term Implementation Plan

Preparation of online training material/video, LMS and flipped classroom may be implemented in this term.

• Online Training Materials. Interactive online training materials are the prime requirement in Education 4.0. Depending on the training modules, useful training videos, précises, pamphlet, other referred material need to keep at the student’s finger tips. Faculty may prepare interactive training material/video according to the module of DSCSC.

• Preparation of LMS. LMS should provide all facilities to the student that is required for training. In this case LMS used by NDC may be followed with some modification. Access control system should be incorporated for security purpose. The most challenging part of LMS is to find out what is required for DSCSC. Meticulous system design for LMS will ease up the software designer to prepare it faster.

208 • Flipped Classroom. In DSCSC’s preparing flipped classroom is not the challenge but flipped learning is the challenge. Preparing a classroom with all latest technology can be termed as a flipped classroom. Basically it should have projector/LED display/Smart board, sound system, computer with printing facilities and data connectivity (wired and wireless).

• Long Term Implementation Plan. In long term- establishment of paperless training management system may be implemented. According to the present academic curriculum, the training system requires some hand written assignment. In future, if needed, the system may be changed into a paperless education system.

Adoption of Education 4.0 in a Restricted Environment

The adoption of Education 4.0 in SI&T, JSTI and CSTI will be different than DSCSC. The courses conducted in those institutions are more of practical oriented. Thus ‘Thin Client’ concept may not be required for those institutions. This will reduce the costing of establishing a secured platform and workstations. Besides, the concept of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) can be applied to reduce the cost. Only during the exercise, the secured laptops/desktops may be supplied in a group to maintain the security. Each user will have access ID and password. The students may access through their desktop/laptop to all facilities. The institutional and instructor’s challenges are almost equal in SI&T, JSTI and CSTI. Presently JSTI and CSTI are conducting online training but SI&T don’t have any facility. Here paperless training environment is less effective due to the nature of training and objective. The implementation process can be categorised in mid-term and long term plan, as those institution do not have required IT infrastructure or digital platform.

• Mid-Term Implementation Plan. Preparation of server based network with uninterrupted data connectivity, preparation of LMS, flipped classroom and e-library required little time to implement. The

209 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

mitigation processes of challenges are similar to the processes of DSCSC. Here designing the server based network and LMS will be different due to the requirement of the institutions.

• Long Term Implementation Plan. Preparation of online training materials will require longer time due to the practical oriented courses. Thus online video, online class, presentation, etc. will be more. This interactive online training material will be more effective to the students for self-preparation before coming to the flipped classroom. To make effective flipped learning, the learning materials should be able to attract the student.

Conclusion

21st century is the technology driven world. IR 4.0 has made the paradigm shift by the combination of IT and future oriented technology. Future warfare will depend on technology. Education 4.0 is the solution to prepare skilled manpower and it’s a digital platform to support IR 4.0. Education 4.0 is an innovation producing learning environment. To keep pace with the changing world, many countries have stared adopting Education 4.0 with their education/training system including military. The adoption process has been started in Bangladesh Armed Forces with NDC. This transformation process must continue. The implementation challenges of DSCSC, SI&T, CSTI and JSTI to adopt Education 4.0 can be very well managed with meticulous planning. The information security issues must be resolved with systematic approach. This digitalized education platform will be able to attract the students to learn by themselves and from peers. In military training institutions, Education 4.0 is very much essential as it helps to build military persons who are critical thinker, innovative and creative. The implementation process may have many challenges, but the remedies are very well manageable. Effective use of Education 4.0 may increase the professional skill to an upper level.

210 References

1. Australian Defence College (n.d.) ‘The Australian Defence College Strategy 2018-2023’ [online]. Available at: http://www.defence.gov. au/ADC/ (Accessed: 12 Mar 2019). 2. Baskoro, G. (2018) ‘Challenges and opportunities of higher education institution in the disruption era towards education 4.0’, Technopex, 2018, pp.118-122. 3. Biering, D. and Biering, C. (2017) ‘Application of Flipped Classroom to Military Science Course’ [online]. Available at: https://pdfslide.net/ documents/application-of-flipped-classrooms-to-military-science- courses-application-of.html (Accessed: 03 March 2019). 4. Caligari, D., and Mansted, K. (2017) ‘Developing Blended Learning: A Digital Learning Platform for Army’ [online]. Available at: https:// groundedcuriosity.com/developing-blended-learning-a-digital- learning-platform-for-army/ (Accessed: 03 March 2019). 5. Chapnick, A. (2014) ‘The Flipped Classroom and Professional Military Education: A Preliminary Assessment of the Possibilities’, Canadian Military Journal, Vol. 14, No. 4, autumn 2014, pp. 71-76. 6. Davies, S. (2019) Moving towards Education 4.0. [Blog] Jisc Blog. Available at: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/blog/member-stories-towards- higher-education-40-15-jan-2019 (Accessed: 23 February 2019). 7. Fedena (2018) ‘How Education 4.0 Can Transform the Schools’ Stakeholders Experience?’ [online]. Available at: https://fedena. com/blog/2018/10/how-education-4-0-can-transform-the-schools- stakeholders-experience.html (Accessed: 26 February 2019).

8. Fisk, P. (2017) ‘Education 4.0 ... the future of learning will be dramatically different, in school and throughout life’ [online]. Available at: https://www.thegeniusworks.com/2017/01/future-education- young-everyone-taught-together/ (Accessed: 22 May 2019).

211 Adoption of Education 4.0 in Joint and Major Training Institutions of Bangladesh Armed Forces - Challenges and Ways Forward

9. Hussin, A. A. (2018) ‘Education 4.0 made simple: ideas for teaching’, International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 6(3), pp. 92-98.

10. Instructional Design Australia (n.d.) ‘Thin Client Technology as a solution to a High School Problem’ [online]. Available at: https:// instructionaldesign.com.au/content/thin-client-technology-solution- high-school-problem (Accessed: 15 May 2019).

11. Janssen, D., Christian, T., Anja, R., and Ingrid, I. (2016) ‘Virtual environments in higher education immersion as a key construct for learning 4.0’, International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning (IJAC), 9, pp. 20–26.

12. Mallick, P. K. (2017) Professional Military Education - An Indian Experience. New Delhi: Vivekananda International Foundation, pp. 14-18.

13. Maria, M., Shahbodin, F., and Pee, N.C. (2018) ‘Malaysian higher education system towards industry 4.0 – Current trends overview’, AIP Conference Proceedings (2016, 020081). doi: 10.1063/1.5055483 (Accessed: 25 February 2019).

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212 18. University of Toronto Libraries (2019) ‘Digital Pedagogy - A Guide for Librarians, Faculty, and Students’ [online]. Available at: https://guides. library.utoronto.ca/digitalpedagogy (Accessed: 27 February 2019).

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Author

Lieutenant Colonel Shahriar Kabir, afwc, psc, Signals was commissioned from Bangladesh Military Academy on 12 June 1997 with 36th BMA Long Course in the Corps of Signals. He served number of Signal Battalions in various capacities. Besides, he commanded a Signal Battalion. He was Deputy Assistant Military Secretary in Military Secretariat Branch, Army Headquarters and served as an Instructor in Signal Training Centre and School. He participated in peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Democratic Republic of Congo. He is a graduate from Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur. He also completed Armed Forces War Course from National Defence College, Mirpur. He has completed his graduation degree in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) from Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). He also achieved both his Masters in Military Studies and Social Science in Security & Development from Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP). He is presently serving in Armed Forces Division.

E-mail: [email protected]

213 SPIRITUALITY VIS-À-VIS LEADERSHIP PRAXIS: PROPOSING A NEW LEADERSHIP STYLE FOR BANGLADESH AMRED FORCES

Commander Khandakar Elius Kanchon, (G), afwc, psc, BN

Introduction

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Leadership is paramount to the success of any armed forces. Military leaders not only take life and death decisions but also directly control quality of life of their under command. Today’s military need to function in the battlefield in an operational environment characterized by complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity, risk, violence and danger; while constrained by time. The mission challenges of military in this 21st century are simultaneously more complex and more dynamic. Making quick decisions within moments might have devastating results, may harm relationships with the civil populace and can even trigger an international incident with far-reaching implications. In addition, leaders of Bangladesh Armed Forces need to operate in an operational environment characterized with FDMN issue, foreign dependency on military hardware, possibility of re-emergence of CIO, implications of socio-economic change, lack of jointness, technological revolt and achieving required state of preparedness. Under these circumstances, Bangladesh Armed Forces must recognize that it needs to develop future leaders that have much expanded leadership attributes compared to their predecessors.

Spirituality in leadership practice has a historical legacy dates back to the epic of Gilgamesh who ruled at URUK in ancient Mesopotamia

214 (Kakabadse, 2002). Last hundred years of management era, spirituality has been quiescent, and resurfaced at the end of the twentieth century when people started have growing understanding of spirituality as inseparable from any aspect of human life. Spirituality is conceived elusively as ‘an awareness within individuals of a sense of connectedness that exists between inner selves and the world (Stamp, 1991)’ It is also defined as the desire to find ultimate purpose in life and to live accordingly (Denton, 1999). Insights from the natural sciences have shown the world to be an individual whole, a web of relationships in which any action has complex, non-linear and unpredictable effects (Kakabadse, 2002). Modern physics asserts that we are part of a larger whole, inter-connected with all life, but we experience ourselves as separate from each other and from nature itself (Chapra, 1997). Thus, the physical reality as an ‘‘unbroken, seamless whole’’ where our perception of separateness is merely a habit of thought (Bohm, 1983). Spirituality and consciousness are not irrational, ‘‘far out’’ beliefs but, rather, the core of dynamic evolutionary systems and, thus, must be included in analysis and practice of organizational design, change and management (Ackerman, 1994).

The essence of leadership in spirituality stems from the leader’s soul which is on a journey driven by ‘a hidden yearning’ or a quest to discover his true self, searching for a higher purpose and meaning to their lives (Howard, 2002). This journey entails the process of focusing within in order to know thyself. Only through this journey of ‘within’, individuals become truly actualized and find meaning and purpose in their work and in their lives. This journey is not necessarily confined to a religious framework while different religion prescribes the journey according to their own specific tradition. This souls journey is an individuation process that gradually unveils inter-connection with higher self and with universe, and consequent realization of this connectedness, provides an individual with a sense of alignment and order, a spiritual cohesiveness, which instils a sense of wholeness, a oneness with who we are and an awareness of how we fit with our external environment. Thus, individuals become conscious of their whole personality, the Higher Self, and gain awareness of higher 215 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces purposes and potential capabilities (Karen, 2013). This is the state of an individual required for leadership of BDAF. There are few leadership theories which have recently been developed in spiritual paradigm based on western values and understanding. But, there is no study which pertains to the development of spiritual leadership model or style in the context of Bangladesh Armed Forces. As such, this study is a novel effort to deal with spiritual leadership in military domain of Bangladesh.

Review of The Literature Conceptualization of Spirituality

Spirituality is defined as “our inner consciousness (Krishnakumar, 2002)” or “an awareness within individuals of a sense of connectedness that exists between inner selves and the world (Kakabadse, 2002)” and from religious perspective it can be described as one’s personal experience of Allah, God, Jesus, the Transcendent or the Ultimate (Tischler, 2002). The religious view of spirituality has generally been avoided, especially in corporate world, because organisations do not want to be blamed of coercing people to a particular faith or favouring those with a similar belief to the prevailing belief system (Luis Fry, 2005). Most writers suggests that spirituality and religion should be defined and treated separately in order to “honour the integrity of both domains” (Dent, 2005). Despite the lack of construct definitions of spirituality, three common themes emerged from most of the definitions of spirituality (Howard, 2004):

• Interconnectedness: we are connected to ourselves, others, the universe and/or a Higher Self.

• Principles: based on principles such as virtues, ethics, values, wisdom and intuition.

• Authenticity: alignment between the personal inner experience and outer behaviours, principles and practices.

216 Spiritual Intelligence and Its Relationship with other Human Intelligences

The most comprehensive concept of SQ was found UK Strategic Leadership Development Program which has following four components:

Table 1: Component of SQ Component Description Critical Existential The capacity to critically contemplate meaning, Thinking (CET) purpose, and other existential or metaphysical is- sues (e.g., reality, the universe, space, time, death).

Personal Meaning The “ability to construct personal meaning and Production (PMP) purpose in all physical and mental experiences, including the capacity to create and master a life purpose. May include a sense of higher purpose, or reason for existence, associated with a personal belief in or sense of the sacred or divine.” Transcendental The capacity to perceive transcendent dimensions Awareness (TA) of the self, of others, and of the physical world during the normal, waking state of consciousness. Also, the ability to sense a spiritual dimension of life. The ability to perceive beyond the physical senses - intuition, gut-feeling, inner knowing. Conscious State The ability “to enter spiritual states of conscious- Expansion (CSE) ness (e.g., pure consciousness, cosmic conscious- ness, oneness) at one’s own discretion; often through deliberate practice (e.g., prayer, meditation, relaxation, or rhythmic physical activity).” Source: UK Defence Academy

217 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces

Figure 1: illustrates the interrelations of Human Intelligences

Developed by the Researcher

Distinction between Spirituality and Religion

Religion is a divine law that enables people with intelligence to attain goodness and happiness in this world and the next with their own desire (Bayram, 2010). According to Christianity, the concern of the biblical texts is to promote among humankind right beliefs about God, right attitudes toward God, and right conduct before the face of God. Biblically, religion has to do with human responses to the Creator. The common theme of all religion revolves around few themes, but not limited to, namely: belief in Allah, God, angels, jinn etc.; worship, rituals and ceremonies; sacred scriptures revealed from God and brought by the messenger or prophet; prohibitions, supplications, prayer and after life. The concept of spirituality is more found in the theological view in religion which pertains to the knowledge of the God or God himself reveals it; the connection of humans with God as narrated in Bible, “Humans have been created in the image of God (Old Testament Gen 1:26-27)”. This statement is evident in the Shahih hadith “Verily, Allah created Adam in His image (Shahih Muslim, 2612).” This is further evident in Imam al Ghazzali’s work “Knowledge of self is the key to the knowledge of God, according to

218 the saying “He who knows himself knows God (Al Ghazzali, 1909)”. It is apparent that essence of the spirituality is deeply rooted in religion, yet it is not confined to any specific religious tradition. Spirituality relates to a more fundamental core, which is both within and beyond religion (Wolf, 2004). Being religious and being spiritual are not interdependent on each other. One may experience spirituality within or outside a religious context (Marshall, 2004). As such, interrelationship between spirituality and religion are deeply imbedded but they are not dependent on each other.

Defining Spiritual Leadership

Spiritual leadership involves self-mastery and self-awareness of strengths, weaknesses, goals, meanings and purpose (Smith, 2005). Thus, spiritual leaders approach change from the inside out. Spiritual leaders as leaders who are directed towards their true north, live authentically and [are] in line with direction-giving values. Spiritual leaders are morally upright and prefer not to compromise or collaborate in areas where core values are at stake. They prefer to challenge opinions and ideas, rather than accommodate them. It appears that the definitions of spiritual leadership reflect the following attributes that are aligned to the principles of spirituality:

• Directed by Higher Purpose. Spiritual leaders have and are directed by a higher purpose (Covey, 2004).

• Change from Inside Out. Spiritual leaders are committed to self- transcendence and approach change from the inside out.

• Self-transcendence. Spiritual leaders are committed to self- transcendence and approach change from the inside out (Cashman, 1998).

• Possess Principles and Values of Spirituality. Spiritual leaders believe, possess and apply a set of core virtues that are based on spirituality and altruistic love (Whittington, 2005).

219 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces

• Intrinsic Motivation. Spiritual leaders are intrinsically motivated as opposed to being extrinsically motivated (Fry, 2011).

• Interconnectedness. Spiritual leaders understand the way in which they form part of and are interconnected with a greater whole (Covey, 2004).

• Application of Human Intelligence. Spiritual leaders use spiritual intelligence as their source of guidance, but they also develop and apply emotional, physical and intellectual intelligences.

• Vision Setting. Leaders exhibit sustained ability to build consensus and lead within the framework of common vision.

• Sharing Meaning. Leaders create meanings for others. They engage the heart (Kauzes, 2001).

• Enabling. Leaders train, educate and coach followers, provide motivation, involve them in approved networks and then free them from situational constraints that hamper growth/transformation towards full effectiveness (DePree, 1993).

• Intuition. Spiritual leaders are pioneers who try to produce real change that matters to people’s enduring needs, regardless of the risk (Kouzes, 1987).

• Service. Spiritual leaders are servant (DePree, 1993).

• Transformation. Spiritual leaders transform themselves, others and their organizations.

Research Methodology

The broad research objective of this study is to advocate introducing spiritual leadership model for BDAF. The study first recognized the reasons for adopting spiritual leadership in BDAF instead of classical leadership

220 practice. In order to justify the reason the study identified essential leadership attribute that are required for BDAF leaders to undertake current and foreseeable challenges. The study then examined established classical leadership theories so as to see whether these theories could meet the identified essential leadership attributes. Then the study developed a model of leadership integrating spirituality keeping the BDAF perspective in cognizance and observed the model whether it could meet the essential leadership attributes. The relevance and requirement of adopting proposed SL model was examined through exploring the perceptions and opinions of the respondents on each constituents of SL model by both qualitative and quantitative method. The survey questionnaire was constructed based on the instruments designed by academia and practitioners in the field of spirituality. To reduce bias, the survey focused on assessing the respondents’ opinion of the behaviours corresponding to the respective constituents of the proposed Model. For example, if respondents were asked to state the extent to which integrity (a constituent of the proposed model) is important for military leaders, it was highly possible that most of the respondents would indicate that integrity is very important because they perceive integrity to be a very important value. Instead, if they were requested to show the extent to which it is important to operate by walking the walk and talking the talk (a behaviour linked with the integrity), it was likely that the respondents might suggested different ratings.

Identifying Essential Leadership Attributes Determinants of Leadership Challenges

In order to identify the essential leadership attributes, it was necessary to find out determinants or sources from where leadership challenges emanates. The study identified four major underlying determinants of leadership challenges, namely: cultural impact, nature of operational environment, negative aspects of organizational culture and state of preparedness for war or conflict.

221 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces

Culture Inheritance in Bengali Character: Historically Bengalis are perceived as soft in nature, lacking muscular strengths but well reputed for hospitality. Few negative aspect of characters of Bengali have been depicted by many writers/poets including Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, and Renowned English writer Babington Macaulay. They described, generally, Bengalis as comfort-loving, having tendency to avoid laborious work, lack in initiative, gossip-loving, self-conceited, sycophant or ‘yes sir’ attitude, jealous in brother’s improvement and submissive to the strong and harsh to the weak. With few exceptions, there were hardly Bengalis found who is courageous, freedom-loving, and straight forward, and having protesting mind-set (Murshid, 2005).

Figure 2: Identifying Essential Leadership Attributes from Cultural Factor

Operational Environment in 21st Century: The conduct of war has become more challenging as operational environment is characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and unambiguity. Lack of timely important intelligence, mobility of the forces and the fluidity of the battle further increases the degree of uncertainty, making the job of commanders at all levels more difficult. Commanders will require the vision to anticipate the course of events and the determination to act quickly to influence the outcome (Khaled, 2019). Clausewitz stated that a commander cannot grapple with the chaos on the battlefield unless he depends on his “coup d’oeil” meaning to intuitive mind (Sain, 2008).

222 Figure 3: Identifying Essential Leadership Attributes from Modern Operational Environment

Socio-economic Change and Organisational Culture

BDAF has many dire concerns within the organization such as lack of jointness, negative effects of socio-economic change on BDAF members. Pyramidal structure career pattern of BDAF prompts intense competition amongst officers often resulting in unhealthy working environment. Individualism, materialism, VIP culture, absence of accountability and economic gains are all traits embedded in the present day society. Today’s armed forces echo many of the trends of the modern society.

Figure 4: Identifying Essential Leadership Attributes from Organizational Culture

223 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces

State of Preparedness: For a relative weaker force like BDAF, the desired state of preparedness should be such that BDAF is always prepared to make supreme sacrifices to protect sovereignty. Though BDAF have glorious military legacy during liberation war in 1971 and exposure in multinational operational environment during peacekeeping mission, yet present members of BDAF lacks the visualization of real war experience. Instilling offensive spirit amongst officers and troops and reducing foreign dependency through building indigenous capability are major challenges for BDAF Leader.

Figure 5: Identifying Essential Leadership Attributes from State of Preparedness

Essential Leadership Attributes of BDAF Leaders

From the above discussion, following consolidated essential leadership attributes are sought out for BDAF leaders to deal with any cultural negative impact, adapt with current operational environment, impact of organizational culture and to promote state of preparedness to achieve credible deterrence.

• Directed by higher purpose • Self- transcendence • Possesses core virtues • Have “Coup d’oeil” or intuitive mind and Wisdom

224 • Have high human intelligence and able to apply them SQ, EQ, IQ and PQ • Bold and Visionary • High motivating power • Ability to effect transformation of the organization

Classical Leadership Vis-à-vis Essential Leadership Attributes

The study categorized classical leadership theories into six trends as suggested by Horner. Though the classical leadership theories are dissimilar, the various leadership trends all reveal the fact that the theories evolved from one another, a new trend appearing to address the deficits of a previous one. The classical leadership theories belonging to the behaviourist, contingency, organisational culture, motivation and transactional trends are aimed at improving the performance of individuals and organisations. Table 2 shows that these leadership theories may have been effective in the 20th century, they are unable to meet the essential leadership attributes identified for BDAF leaders.

225 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces

Table 2: Classical leadership theories vis-à-vis identified essential attributes Leadership Trend and Features Weakness Couldn’t establish a composite Concerns the traits of great set of common traits leaders Believed that these Research confirmed that leaders were born with these Couldn’t meet the Essential Leadership Attributes required for BDAF Leader leadership is not necessarily First Trend attributes inborn, as it may be taught

Examined those behaviours Traits were difficult to measure of leaders that contributed There is not one single style to enhancing organisational that is suitable for leaders in all effectiveness situations Second Trend

Complex relationship between Contingency or situational the leader and the situation Frontal figure’ or hero who Leadership that leads from ‘leads’ the followers behind or within is also Third Trend required Focuses on organisational culture Leaders are required to operate Synergistic relationship within the culture of the between individuals, organisations concerned if

Fourth Trend Fourth organisations and the they are to be successful environment Motivational theories, Focuses on leadership and Motivations of the leader are motivation not necessarily specified Concerns a follower’s They may be driven by unquestioning trust and Fifth Trend expedient motivations acceptance of the leader’s ideology and commands

226 Table 2: Classical leadership theories vis-à-vis identified essential attributes Leadership Trend and Features Weakness Fails to explicitly identify and ‘Recent leadership theories address the motives of the ‘since the 1980s leaders Transactional relationship Transformational leaders may between the leader and be motivated by either altruistic follower or egoistic values Leader rewards the follower Leader may consider that Sixth Trend for loyalty their positions immune them Transformation of followers from being accountable to an for the best interest of obligation that everyone else organization would be accountable to

Spritual Leadership Vis-à-vis Essential Leadership Attributes

Figure 6 represents the fact that attributes of spiritual leadership and essential leadership attributes of BDAF leaders are fully supportive and synergetic.

Figure 6: Spiritual leadership Vis-à-vis Essential Leadership Attributes

227 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces

Developing Model of Spiritual Leadership Broad Theme

The spiritual leadership level model has been developed based on the conceptualization of spirituality and spiritual leadership applied on two levels, namely: individual and organizational. Individual level of the model includes four key themes, namely: Higher purpose and Vision; Have core virtues; Greater expression of SQ along with EQ, IQ and PQ; and Changing from Inside Out. Organizational level encompasses vision setting, sharing meaning, enabling others, building value-based organizational culture, service and sustained transformation of the organization.

Modus Operandi

At individual level, leaders follow the path of soul’s journey and gradually become conscious of their whole personality, the Higher Self, and gain awareness of higher purposes and potential capabilities. Then spiritual leader during the his/her spiritual journey will demonstrate the following behaviours: mission driven, enjoys service to people over financial gain; selflessness; genuine concern and care for others (Dixon, 2010); seeks the best for others by supporting them with no personal interest or hope of monetary gain; and a will to accept personal sacrifice; standing up for his/her convictions and living up to his/her conscience; promoting transparency in an organization; openness to receiving advice and criticism from others; going out of his/her way to assist others; appreciates diversity by valuing the values, treats others in a way in which he/she would like to be treated; delegating responsibilities and relinquishing control; letting go, moving on and not harboring either resentment or anger; showing acceptance and gratitude rather than being filled with hatred and revenge; meditating or reflecting quietly and being self-reflective and self-aware.

228 Figure 7: Spiritual Leadership Model for BDAF

When spiritual leader works at organization he sets vision, share meaning, enables others and gradually transform the whole organization through establishing value-based organizational culture. The impacts of adopting spiritual leadership may lead an organization to (Kakabadse, 2002):

• Congenial environment for facilitating everyone’s potential • More self-reliance and inter-dependency rather than dependence • Enhanced combatant spirit and fearless fighting • Everyone with a sense of identity and fulfilment • Vibrant, Humility, quietude, compassion and sensitivity • The rejection of elitism. • Optimum efficiency of the organization

SWOT Analysis of Proposed SL Model

While the model shows promising positive change in BDAF, it also emphasizes that model must be implemented slowly and gradually in order to safeguard it from becoming counterproductive. As such how to proceed with implementation of SL model remained an area for future research.

229 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces

Figure 8: SWOT Analysis of the SL Model

Relevance and Importance of The Model

The relevance and importance of the SL model was found through descriptive and statistical analysis on each constituents of the model. Lickert scale 1 to 7 corresponded ‘Not at all important’ to ‘Extremely Important’. As depicted in Figure 8, Integrity was perceived as the most important sub-dimension of the spiritual leadership model (M = 6.30, SD = 1.06). The average mean level of relevance is 5.79 which is near to very important. Thereby it can be concluded that the proposed spiritual leadership model is highly relevant and required for BDAF.

230 Figure 9: Survey Result of Proposed SL Model

Recommendations

The following recommendations are intended for decision makers of Bangladesh Armed Forces Service to ensure that the proposed spiritual model is implemented in a sustainable manner in Bangladesh Armed Forces Service:

▪▪ Slow and gradual advancement for implementation of proposed SL model.

▪▪ Formal discussions may be arranged to create awareness regarding the core concept of this model and necessity of adopting it.

▪▪ Adopt TOP-DOWN Approach where endeavour may be taken to convince all senior officers in BDAF to endorse the proposed spiritual model and behave as role models so as to enable officers and troops to adopt behaviour that reflects the principles of the proposed spiritual model.

231 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces

Conclusion

It may be concluded that the proposed spiritual model is relevant and important because it could addresses essential leadership attributes of BDAF as determined in the study. However, proposed spiritual model does not abandon the merits of the classical leadership theories. The proposed spiritual model encompasses critical elements of the classical leadership theories, such as analytical thinking and technical competence (components of IQ).. It was established from the review of the literature on spiritual leadership that most of the research and literature on this topic is pertinent to a western context, thus exposing a gap in the literature pertaining to the BD context. Spirituality in BD is generally perceived from religious perspective. Respondents opined that inability to distinguish between spiritually and religion by members of BDAF could be a barrier for implementation of SL model in BD. The potential threat of proposed SL Model is that opportunist may spread propaganda labelling practice of spirituality with extremism and terrorism. As such, slow and gradual advancement is must for the implementation of proposed SL model where first endeavour should be taken to create awareness regarding the core concept of this model and necessity of adopting it. Then endeavour may be taken to convince senior officers to behave as role models.

References

1. Bayram F, (2010). What is Religion? Available at http://www. lastprophet.info/what-is-religion Accessed on 24 Aug 2019. 2. Covey, S. (1994). The seven habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. London: Simon and Schuster. 3. Covey, S. (2004). The 8th habit: From effectiveness to greatness. London: Simon and Schuster. 4. Edwards, P. (2001). The spiritual intelligence handbook. Kearney: Morris.

232 5. Fairholm, G. W. (1996). “Spiritual leadership: Fulfilling whole-self needs at work.” Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 7(5): 11–17.

6. Horner, M. (1997). “Leadership theory: Past, present and future.” Team Performance Management, 3(4): 270–287.

7. Howard, S. (2002). “A spiritual perspective on learning in the workplace.” Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17(3): 230–242.

8. Korac-Kakabadse, N., Kouzmin, A. and Kakabadse, A. (2002). “Spirituality and leadership praxis.” Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17(3) 165–182.

9. Kouzas, J.M. and Posner, B.Z.P. (2001). Leadership Practices Inventory. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

10. Law P. (2013) An Integrated Spiritual Leadership Model for the South African Public Service: A Case of Selected Government Departments. University of Western Cape

11. Murshid, G. “Hajar Bochorer Sangskiti ( One Thousand Years of the Bengali Culture)” ABOSHOR, Dhaka

12. Parameshwar, S. (2005). “Spiritual leadership through ego- transcendence: Exceptional responses to challenging circumstances.” The Leadership Quarterly, October 16(5): 689–772.

13. Smith, D.P.J. (2005b). Module 3: Spiritual Leadership. Unpublished notes for M.Phil. – HRM (PPL), Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg.

14. Tischler, L., Biberman, J. and McKeage, R. (2002). “Linking emotional intelligence, spirituality and workplace performance.” Journal of Managerial Psychology, 17(3): 203–218.

15. Vaughan, F. (2002). “What is spiritual intelligence?” Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 42(2), Spring: 16–33.

233 Spirituality vis-a-vis Leadership Praxis: Proposing A New Leadership Style for Bangladesh Amred Forces

16. Wolf, E.J. (2004). “Spiritual leadership: A new model.” Healthcare Executive. American College of Healthcare. March–April: 22–25.

17. Zohar, D. and Marshall, I. (2000). Spiritual intelligence the ultimate intelligence. New York: Bloomsbury.

18. Zohar, D. and Marshall, I. (2004). Spiritual capital. London: Bloomsbury.

19. Zukav, G. (1990). The seat of the soul. London: Rider.

Author

Commander Khandakar Elius Kanchon, (G), psc, BN is a course member of AFWC 2019. He has been serving in Bangladesh Navy since 1999. In his long 20 years’ service, he was appointed in various command, staff and instructional duties including service in UNIFIL for13 months. He commanded different types of naval platforms of Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coastguard which include BNS SURMA, BNS ANIRBAN, BNS DURVEDYA, CGS TAWHEED, and CGS PORTE GRANDE. His staff appointments include Grade Two Staff Officer for Foreign Affairs in Armed Forces Division, Staff Officer (Plans-1) (twice) in Naval Headquarters, and Staff Officer (Operations) in Khulna Naval Area and Bangladesh Coast Guard East Zone. His instructional appointments include Instructor in Bangladesh Naval Academy and Directing Staff of Junior Staff course. He has distinguished academic and professional background covering a wide array of military and non-military training both at home and abroad. He has two Masters in Military Studies from Bangladesh University of Professionals and General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka. He graduated from Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur and Sri Lanka. He has a wide travelling experience in various parts of the globe. He has special interest on meditation and spirituality.

234 WARRANTING MARITIME SECURITY WITHIN BLUE ECONOMY IN BANGLADESH

Captain Mirza Mamun-ur-Rashid, (G), afwc, psc, BN

Introduction

The victory of gaining a vast maritime territory which is about 118,813 square km and is almost of the country’s original size, has a pronounced prospect for Bangladesh. She now has sovereign right to explore, exploit, conserve and manage living and non-living resources of water column, seabed and subsea strata and economic activities, such as the production of energy from the water, currents and winds within 200 nautical miles of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). So, now Bangladesh is able to access to different types of living and mineral resources which should help strengthen its economy(R Adm Khurshed, 2013). Bangladesh’s strategic vision on Blue Economy is getting momentum prudently for the overall development of the country. The trend of ongoing economic activities in this region is getting higher as 2/3rd of world’s trade transits ensure that the region is the world economic hub. Moreover, with the global and regional powers already possessing a naval presence in the region which warrants appropriate measures for a sound Blue Economy. The maritime sector is a valuable source of growth and prosperity for many nation. Maritime security emphasizes the importance of safeguarding maritime area from different threat, such as littoral disputes, Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU), human trafficking or other forms of transnational crime in order to ensure good order at sea.

The Blue Economy is not only about economic growth, but also about importance of striking balance between blue growth, ocean health and sustainability. The economic sectors of the sea is the primary reference

235 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh to conceive the concept of the Blue Economy. That was traditionally exploitation, exploration, conservation and extraction of resources including promotion of tourism. The exploitation of sea resources cannot be done with presence of significant threat. Thus a satisfactory degree of maritime security need to be prevailed for growth of blue economy.

The origin of the term ‘Maritime Security’ is considered to be as ancient as the use of the seas, with the nations devising their own customs and practices to safeguard their diverse marine related interests in the seas and oceans. It is a state of affairs of the global/regional maritime domain, in which international and national laws are enforced, freedom of navigation/trade and commerce is guaranteed and maritime transportation, environment and marine resources are protected(R Adm Khurshed, 2015). Maritime security implies those measures employed by owners, operators and administrators of vessels, port facilities, and offshore installations including other marine organizations or establishments to protect against seizure, sabotage, piracy, pilferage, annoyance or surprise. It can also be considered as embracing all measures taken to prevent hostile interferences with lawful operations (Hawks, 1989).

Problem Statement

A comprehensive approach to Maritime Security is indispensable to safeguarding common prosperity and security interests as it effectively protects and supports legitimate activities, while countering the threat of current and emerging terrorist, hostile, illegal or dangerous acts within the maritime domain. Simultaneously, protection of Blue Economy demands a considerable attention considering the maritime threat and vulnerabilities. An integrated effort to exploit the sea for overall economic well-being with an astute maritime security dynamics is yet to be taken effectively.

236 Significance of the Problem

United Nations Convention for Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) allows littoral states to conduct exploration, exploitation, management and conservation at varying scope in different maritime zones. Appropriate and timely measures including adaptation of policies along with addressing the maritime security issues are necessary for a sustainable Blue Economy. As well said by renowned maritime strategist Admiral Mahan (1890), “Wars arising from other causes have been greatly modified in their conduct and issues by the control of the sea”.

Literature Review

The contemporary issues related to maritime security with an emphasis to piracy within Southeast Asia Pacific region are aptly presented by Jason Abbott and Neil Renwick in their book ‘Pirates? Maritime piracy and societal security in Southeast Asia Pacific’. They focused various threats and vulnerabilities related to Maritime Security and also suggested options to mitigate the same.

The great Maritime Strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan in his book ‘The Influence of Sea Power” expertly narrated the intricacy of maritime influences in overall projection of power. Though it discusses the issues from history yet the outcomes are reasonably validate till date to display sea power.

The importance of sea related to Blue Economy and challenges for Bangladesh has been eloquently narrated in the ‘Bangladesh’s Maritime Challenges in the 21st Century’ by Commodore Khursed Alam (Retd). It includes geostrategic importance of Bay of Bengal, impact of maritime trade, ports facilities, shipping, marine science, resources and all other related issues.

237 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh

The unique book as the pioneer write up on the concept of Green Economy. Though it serves as the base for all discourse and studies related to Green economy till date yet it focused very less on Blue Economy directly. The writer Gunter Pauli in his book ‘The Blue Economy’ has assembled 100 natural technologies and innovations and explained lucidly the science behind their success.

‘Sea Power: A Guide for the Twenty First Century’ by Geoffrey Till is a unique literature to acquire the insight of Maritime Implication on trade, economy, resource management and nevertheless the maritime security affairs.

The publication of UK Government on ‘National Strategy for Maritime Security’ delineates the strategy for strengthening cooperation between different sectors and national authorities of member countries.

Research Objective

The objective of the research is to analyse the role of maritime security towards ensuring sustainable Blue Economy in Bangladesh.

Analytical Framework

It is a descriptive research using qualitative methods with two variables. This research is planned to study the need of maritime security for the various activities of Blue Economy in Bangladesh. Here drivers of Maritime Security is the independent variable and Blue Economy is the dependent variable. The best ways to acquire basic human needs and sustainability on economy, societal including environmental from Bay of Bengal are the core issues of dependable variable. The independent variable are measured by various maritime security risks and their effects are assessed in conditions at sea that weaken the potential for sustainable growth. The analytical framework of the study is delineated through a diagram in Figure 1:

238 Figure 1: Analytical Framework of the Study

Source: Idea conceived by Author

Conceptual Model. The following table explains the essential elements of each variable:

Table 1: Indicators for the variables Variable Measurement Dependent: Basic Human Needs from BoB, Economic, Blue Economy Societal, Environment Disruption to Sea Lane of Communication by conflict between littorals, deterioration of law and order at sea, Sea Power, Protection of Maritime Boundary, Security of the sea itself, Cyber-attacks Independent: against shipping or maritime infrastructure, Maritime Security Territorial maritime disputes, acts of aggression and armed conflict between states, Freedom of Navigation, Environmental safety, Military activities Source: Idea conceived by Author

239 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh

Domain of Blue Economy in Bangladesh

Maritime Infrastructure. Amongst two major sea ports of the country Chattogram port handles about 2,500 vessels in a year. It facilitates import of about 4,00,00,000 tons and export of 50,00,000 tons of cargo. The growth of cargo handling is about 10% which also includes inland and ICD (Inland Container Depot at Dhaka) cargoes (R Adm Anwar, 2020). The other sea port of the country at Mongla calls in 105 vessels and handles about 7,42,816 Tons of cargo in a year. The port faces challenges to keep the channel navigable throughout the year (R Adm Anwar, 2020). Recently government has inaugurated the third sea port named Paira Port located in the Patuakhali district.

Geo-Strategic Location. Bangladesh is surrounded by Bay of Bengal on the south, Myanmar on the south-east and the rest of the area by India. The length of her coast line is about 710 km and possesses about 8,000 km of vast river water ways. The sea is the primary means of extending connectivity and trade links for Bangladesh with others due her geo- strategic location. For obvious reason approximately 90% of her commerce is carried through sea and rivers(R Adm Khurshed, 2004). The geostrategic importance of Bangladesh can be apprehended from the following figure:

Figure 2: Strategic shipping routes through Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal

Source: Wikipedia

240 Living Resources. Bangladesh has about 475 types of fish in the sea areas. This sector plays a significant role on the national economy by providing 2.73% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 4.9% of the export earnings. Bangladesh has about 166 registered fishing trawlers with gross tonnage of about 23 thousand metric tons and about 50,000–60,000 small fishing boats.

Non-Living Resources. Following are the major non-living resources that can be found within the maritime area of Bangladesh:

Oil and Gas. Sea areas under national jurisdiction of Bangladesh are believed to be rich in hydrocarbon reserves. Planned exploration activities will enhance the potentials of oil and gas production from the offshore and sea areas substantially.

Renewable Energy. The vast sea around Bangladesh has great potential for renewable sources of energy available in the form of ocean thermal energy, waves, tides and salinity gradients. Also there is a good opportunity in island and coastal areas for the application of wind mills for pumping and electricity generation in the coastal areas of Bangladesh.

Minerals. After the demarcation of sea boundary with Myanmar, a huge area of opportunity has been opened to Bangladesh in order to extract different minerals from offshore areas. Bangladesh is taking measures to withdraw Gas Hydrates, polymetalic manganese nodules commercially from the Bay of Bengal.

Chemicals. Out of sixty elements present in sea water, only six are recovered commercially. Greater possibility is also there in future for deriving some new chemicals like Potassium, iodine, uranium and gold from sea. Bangladesh being a developing country will have to exploit these opportunities for her economic development.

Medicine. In Bangladesh the utilization of marine plants and animals as raw material for effective and safe drugs and medicine is not very popular compare to other industry; very soon we might go for exploration of our maritime assets.

241 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh

Maritime Trade. Chattogram and Mongla ports are the major outlets through which the country conducts its majority of the export and import. About 95% of our total external trade travels by sea (The Financial Express, 2017). Some 200 ships call in Chattogram and Mongla ports monthly in an average. As such, uninterrupted maintenance of SLOC is essential for the economic survival of the country.

Maritime Shipping. Bangladesh depends heavily on the imports of fuel, raw materials, spares and military hardware that move by the sea. Over 75% of it is carried by foreign ships due to inadequacy of national carriers. Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) started its operation with 25 vessels including a tanker in 1974. Under Bangladesh Flag, at present BSC operates only 13 vessels and private owners operate 17 vessels.

Shipbuilding and Repair Facilities. Bangladesh has a strong ckground in building ships since ancient times. With the ship recycling industry flourishing in Chittagong, availability of steel plates boosted the inland ship building in the early nineties. In the present days Khulna Shipyard Limited, Ananda Shipyard Limited, Western Marine Shipyard, Narayanganj Dockyard and Engineering Works Limited are the major shipbuilding industries in Bangladesh. Khulna Shipyard Limited has started building indigenous warships that mark a finer shipbuilding capability of the country.

Moheshkhali-Matarbari Blue Economy Projects. The project includes Matarbari power plant, Moheshkhali LNG terminal and Sonadia deep sea port. The process is on to build deep seaport at Sonadia over 1,225 acres of land, four units of coal fired power projects with a capacity of 2400MW electricity and a LNG based power plant. Besides, eight coal- fired and LNG based power plant with a capacity of 3,320 MW electricity will be set up on 5,579 acres of land at Moheshkhali.

Marine Tourism. Bangladesh marine tourism industry is gradually gaining momentum. Thousands of local and foreign tourists are visiting the beaches of Cox’s Bazar, Patenga sea beach, Saint Martin’s and Kuakata each year and it is expected to increase more.

242 Ship Recycling. Bangladesh holds the second position in the world in regards to ship recycling industry which has important contribution in the industrial progress of the country. The world’s 14% breakage occurs in the coastal areas of Chattogram. Moreover, majority of the country’s steel re- rolling industries run on this sector (BSBA,2017). Maritime Employment. Maritime domain of Bangladesh offers huge employment opportunity which is already a substantial job market for the country. Almost 20 million people live on sea-based activities (R Adm Khurshed, 2015). Maritime cluster includes many mega sectors of economic importance related to shipping, ports and shipbuilding, ship recycling, fisheries, tourism, offshore and coastal wind energy.

Mapping Maritime Security: Challenges in Bangladesh Scenario

Basic Concept. The most common understanding of maritime security is to ensure ‘good’ or ‘stable’ order at sea (Till, 2004) act as the basis to deal with the issue. Basically maritime security can be meant in an environment of its influence on sea power, resilience, safety at sea and ensure sustainable blue economy.

Threats Related to Maritime Domain. Considerations of maritime security often do so by indicating to ‘threats’ that prevail in the maritime domain (Kraska, 2013). The threats they contemplate are diversified such as maritime inter-state disputes, maritime terrorism, piracy, arms proliferation, trafficking of drugs, human and illicit goods, illegal fishing, marine pollution, maritime accidents and disasters.

Responses against Maritime Threats. Depending on the prevailing situation the responses against maritime threats is broad, dissimilar and diverse. This tend to include regulation, information sharing, coordination, capacity building and law enforcement. Precisely, since numerous stakeholders has referred on: not any global agreement to define maritime security is materialised (Kraska 2013).

243 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh

Maritime Security Roadmap by Various Actors. The European Union, the UK and African Union has launched aspiring strategy for maritime security in 2014. This field of security is considered as one of the objectives in the maritime domain published in 2011 by The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) publication. USA introduced this initiative by formulating policy in 2004 on national security affairs on maritime domain. Moreover, the field of security in the maritime area is included inthe tasks of Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of the International Maritime Organization.

Cyber Attack in Maritime Environment. Nowadays, the maritime sectors have begun to experience highly sophisticated and complex cyber- attacks that attempt to inflict damage to property and operations by seeking to take control of navigation and control systems. The hi tech equipment being used in maritime domain are compatible to computerized systems were designed to meet the needs of the 20th century. Though with the upsurge of multi directional and diversified threats of the 21st century need to be addressed with appropriate matched equipment. There is no denying fact that the cyber threat exist and attack is real. As such the consequences of an effective attack could be catastrophic.

Maritime Security Challenges. Maritime terrorism, smuggling, fish poaching, drug and human trafficking, arms trafficking etc will pose serious challenge to the maritime economy of Bangladesh. The key challenges of maritime security focusing blue economy of the country are enumerated below:

Sea Blindness. The primary issue of sea blindness is the general ignorance of the sea and the activities within the maritime domain. A secondary factor is the lack of consensus on the size and type of naval forces needed to maintain order at sea. The heart of the problem lies in not recognizing that the sea is the medium by which national economies are sustained.

Lack of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). Capability gap of various maritime agencies in identifying threats could impact our security, safety,

244 economy, or environment. Inter-agency coordination to share information is another hurdle in MDA. Absence of surveillance equipment and an integrated intelligence grid to form a real time maritime picture may cause delay in quick response to crisis at sea.

Nonexistence of Integrated Maritime Security Command Structure. The multidimensional maritime threats need the involvement of multiple agencies. It is necessary to integrate various agencies under a common umbrella to get the desired outcome. As the country does not possess such structure thus complexities are dominant for dealing the matters related to maritime security.

Absence of Regional Cooperation. Bay of Bengal has swerved into a synonym of economic and strategic significance. Bangladesh being one of the littoral states of the BoB region has to deal with ineffective marine regulation, IUU fishing, marine pollution and the non-traditional security menace. The challenge is to establish and promote a variety of transnational, maritime cooperative mechanisms designed to mitigate maritime security concerns amongst the littoral neighbours.

Changing Scenario Caused by COVID 19 Pandemic. There are a number of possible futures, all dependent on how governments and society respond to corona virus and its economic aftermath. The lasting impact caused by the pandemic will bring different aspects to address the various domain of maritime security. Hence, prioritisation of crisis management by maintaining COVID protocol will involve more delicacy.

Growing Number of Unregistered/Unaccounted Fishing Boats. Vessel less than 20 metre are beyond the ambit of the registration provision (Ordinance, 1983). The presence of fishing vessels or craft many unregistered, in large number at sea, who cannot be identified, tracked or monitored by security agencies, possesses considerable security threat.

Inadequate Platforms. Inadequate platforms for effective surveillance and prosecution in the BOB is a concern for the agencies involved in

245 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh protection of maritime resources. The following survey result projects the need for modern capable Navy for Bangladesh to meet the maritime security challenges:

Figure 3: Requirement for Capable Navy to ensure Maritime Security in Bangladesh

Source: Survey Data

Ways and Means: Coupling Maritime Security with Blue Economy

General. Comprehensive Maritime Security in Bangladesh can be viewed as - Ensuring security at sea is essential for conflict protection, environment protection, surveillance, monitoring and enforcement system, information sharing, burden sharing, international co-operation for capacity building. However, the various perspectives of Maritime Security are interrelated and overlapped to a certain degree. Figure-4 represents various perspective of Maritime Security:

246 Figure 4: Maritime Security Perspective

Source: Author

Pragmatic Policy for Blue Economy. A comprehensive ragmatic policy emphasizes the ideas, principles, norms which are no difference for the approach of Blue economy. The objectives of the policy for the blue economy domain encompasses for ensuring sustainable development while ensuring peace, stability and security. Additionally, due attention and focused area for such initiative need to be considered due global changes caused by ongoing COVID 19 pandemic.

A Balanced Maritime Force. The Bangladesh Navy today remains the principal manifestation of Bangladesh’s maritime power and plays a central role in safeguarding and promoting her security and national interests in the maritime domain. The Navy’s roles and responsibilities have also expanded significantly over the years in response to changing geo-economic and geo-strategic circumstances. However, further initiative may be taken to strengthen Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guards to resist illegal use of animal and mineral resources in the exclusive economic

247 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh zone as well as to keep international sea line open and safeguard the free movement of commercial ships.

Maritime Domain Awareness. The objective of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) is to conduct activity for ensuring safety and security at sea. It covers the sharing of information between the stakeholders to grow awareness of any situation at sea. There is a growing demand for effective MDA as human trafficking, arms proliferation, drug smuggling, fish poaching, maritime terrorism and piracy are at rise from last decade. The latest concept of Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) warrants the appropriate and timely attention to deal with underwater sector.

A Coordinated Approach to Maritime Security. A comprehensive maritime security considering the existing security environment is needed. It has to address all military and non-military threats and include offshore hydrocarbon rigs, harbour installations, fishing, shipping and SLOC. A combined effort by the various maritime authority against any breach of maritime security warrants a total picture for preventive, punitive and protecting dealings. A collaborative surveillance system along the coast certainly make all the stakeholders for an effective scenario compilation to address any breach of security. The author has a unique experience to get the advantage of such technology while working in Lebanon as the country set up multiple RADAR stations along the coast in Mediterranean. The seamless surveillance system of the said area is show in Figure-5:

248 Figure 5: Integrated RADAR Surveillance Structure at Lebanese Coast

Source: Author

Promoting Sustain use of BoB Improve Governance

Establishing Regulatory Body. A controlling body such as National Maritime Division (NMD) may be established which will be central to the every action initiated, promulgated, implemented and monitored with respect to governance of Bangladesh’s maritime domain.

Formulation of Policy. There is no doubt a well-defined and articulated policy is able to furnish a fruitful impact on the growing blue economy of the nation. This is the appropriate time to enact a comprehensive maritime policy integrating maritime security, management and protection of living and non-living resources, protection of marine environment, maritime

249 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh pollution, hydrographic survey, coastal tourism etc. The following survey result denotes the maritime policy formulation as a priority task:

Figure 6: Considering Formulation of Maritime Policy as Priority Task

Source: Survey Data

Policy Implementation. The policy on completion of validation will be applied by each stakeholders according to government priorities and action plan arising from it. Support from all stakeholders is a prerequisite for effective implementation.

Strengthen Cooperation between Stakeholders. Since all the gencies are working for a common goal that is sustainable use of BoB, all the parties need to consider mutual understanding as a key factor (R Adm Khurshed, 2020).

Increase Functioning Efficiency

Improve Intelligence Sharing. Intelligence is a significant affair which exchange between the stakeholders ensures that the whole administrations act efficiently. Advanced cooperation is necessary between all agencies to counter diversified threats from multinational terrorist and their organisations including the various criminal gangs.

250 Optimise Resource Uses. There should be logical balance between the targeting of any actions, operational need and budgetary constraints. Bangladesh should judiciously utilize her resources from various agencies. Nevertheless, to ensure sovereignty Vis a Vis deter certain illegal acts operational patrols remain essential in the enormous sea area with priority basis.

Purposeful Attachment with Digital Era. In the era of 4th industrial revolution the blue economy domain certainly marching with same paces. The maritime sector is blessed with the digital transformation for both on-board and ashore systems specially the port installations. Besides, it appears necessary to focus development on cyber security. The survey result projected below reflects the same:

Figure 7: Importance of Cyber Security for Maritime Security

Source: Survey Data

Fortify Surveillance System. The use of detection gadgets enabling surveillance network to ensure ‘seamless’ surveillance in immediate proximity to the territory. In this regard, setting of radar station along the coast with surveillance radars is an appropriate measure to address the issue. Moreover, the use of drones in the domain of maritime surveillance may further augment the whole scenario. The advantage is that there is a flexibility to use this asset since this can be used from platform at sea or deployed from land.

251 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh

Strengthen Regional Maritime Cooperation. The prevailing situation warrant a common platform for security and capacity building. The cooperation amongst the various littoral states are indispensable for preservation of individual maritime interests as well as regional maritime security (R Adm Khurshed, 2020). Moreover, prevailing situation raised by the COVID19 pandemic warrant a sustainable capacity building amongst the littorals in the field of maritime security.

Recommendations: The keyword “C (sea) FRONT” by taking the initial of key words of each recommendations enumerated below may ensure fair wind for the smooth sailing of Maritime Security of Bangladesh:

• An active consideration for installation of Coastal Radar Stations for maritime surveillance may be given priority.

• Formulation of a comprehensive maritime policy covering the strategy for safeguarding maritime domain for enabling sustainable Blue Economy need to be developed immediately.

• A Regulatory Body to oversee the maritime sectors specifically maritime security sector need to be activated within shortest possible time.

• Observation of Cyber Security activities including implementation of strict punitive measures against maritime cyber-crime.

• Bangladesh Navy and Coast Guard should be equipped with modern surface and air platforms, arsenal and gazettes to ensure full proof Maritime Security in order to achieve sustainable Blue Economy.

• Team building efforts within the region for combatting maritime crimes including capacity building.

Conclusion

Domains of Blue Economy can easily be exploited and enjoyed with the effective observation of maritime security. The necessity of maritime

252 domain awareness is imperative in order to ensure effective monitoring of all activities of sea thus the maritime domain is not considered as space of wilderness where illegal activities are left unchecked. The diversification of vastness of oceans can be understood by the fact that the ocean covers almost 72% of the globe that is the water body of the earth. Around 80% worldwide commerce are being transported by sea. The sea, sea shore and the coast also contributes important resources for the indispensable business for worldwide tourism. Presently 32% of the global supply of hydrocarbons are extracted from the seabed and the exploration is continuing for further extraction. There is also a huge potential from sea to generate renewable ‘blue energy’ from, wave, tide, current, wind, thermal and biomass sources. Thus the initiative of Blue Economy unlocks the advancement of Blue Growth throughout all the established, emerging and prospective sectors.

Blue Growth is presumed to be the stronger factor for a sustainable development. The expected outcome of Blue Growth is liable to turn opposite direction if there is a weak plan to manage the sea resources. The challenges of countering uprising non-traditional security threats and mitigating climate change issues are major impediments to this issue. Thus ensuring maritime security is a viable option to pursue sustainable growth through Blue Economy. Indian Ocean more specifically BOB has emerged as the most dynamic region in economic and strategic terms. Bangladesh being a littoral state of the region is within the purview of desired cooperation, inclusiveness, value, development featuring equality, mutual benefits, harmony and win-win results in the overall spectrum of Blue Economy. Thus it is imperative that she protects her maritime economy and safeguard continental shelf by harnessing and managing its huge resources in a scientific way. For this she must formulate a maritime policy addressing the contemporary issues. She cannot afford to be weak at sea for her security and sustainability. This type of awareness will ensure her safe maritime trade, pollution free sea, secure ports, harbours and coastal establishments. This will further ensure hydrographic survey, marine research, prevent piracy and stop illegal fishing at BoB. The deficit 253 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh in planning, proper knowledge and technology about the Blue Economy needs to be minimized. For this the country requires to initiate an affordable policy in commensuration of all the related issue of blue economy. As such, timely and appropriate steps to address the numerous maritime sector will have tremendous impact towards a sustainable blue growth. Effect of COVID19 pandemic should be given due emphasis while dealing with the sectors of maritime domain. At the same time ensuring maritime security through a prudent plan can act as an impetus towards the overall development of Bangladesh.

End Notes:

1. The Blue Economy philosophy was first introduced in 1994 by Prof Gunter Pauli when asked by the UN to reflect on the business models of the future. Then the concept came into light in Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development from 20-22 June 2012. 2. Blue Growth is the development from sea or ocean. 3. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the sea (UNCLOS) defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment and the management of marine natural resources. 4. Maritime Domain Awareness means having timely information about everything on, under, related to, adjacent to, or bordering a sea, ocean or other navigable waterway that could impact security, safety, the economy or the environment.

References

1. Abbott, Jason and Renwick Neil, (1999), Pirates? Maritime piracy and societal security in Southeast Asia Pacific, Reaction Books, London.

2. Alfred, Thayer Mahan, (1890) The Influence of Sea Power upon History: 1660-1783, Brown & Co publishers, USA.

254 3. Alam, (C), ndc, psc, BN (Retd), Commodore Mohammad Khurshed, (2204), Bangladesh’s Maritime Challenges in the 21st Century: Dhaka: Pathak Shamabesh Bangladesh, 2004.

4. Alam, ndc, psc, BN (retd), R Adm M Khurshed, (2015), ‘Challenges of Maritime Delimitation with India and Myanmar and Prospects of Blue Economy’, Seminar on ‘Marine Resources Management of Bangladesh in the Context of Newly Demarcated Boundary’, 26 Feb 2015, BIIS, Dhaka.

5. Alam, Rear Adm (retd) Khurshed, (2020), ‘Blue Economy: A New Frontier of Prosperity’, Lecture at NDC on 12 May 2020.

6. Bangladesh Merchant Shipping Ordinance (1983).

7. Chaudhury, Rahul Roy, (2000), India’s Maritime Security, IDSA and Knowledge World ( ISBN: 81-86019-29-4), Delhi.

8. Cullinane, Kevin, (2011), International Handbook of Maritime Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, UK.

9. Data on shipping, (2017), www.bsba.org.bd visited 11 Sep 2017.

10. Hawks, Kenneth Gale, (1989), Maritime Security, Cornell Maritime Press, Maryland, p9.

11. Islam, Rear Adm (retd) Anwarul, (2020), ‘Maritime/ Sea Power: Perspective for Developing Countries’, Presentation at NDC to National Defence Course on 13 Jul 2020.

12. Kabir, M Humayun (ed), (2008), National Security of Bangladesh in the Twenty-first Century, The University Prerss Limited, Dhaka, 2008.

13. Kraska, James and Raul Pedrozo, (2013) International Maritime Security Law, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, UK, p 187.

14. Kumar, Narender, (2011) Challenges in the Indian Ocean Region Response Option, KW Publishers Pvt Ltd, New Delhi,p 383.

255 Warranting Maritime Security within Blue Economy in Bangladesh

15. Murphy, Martin, (2010), Small boats-weak states-Dirty money: Piracy and Maritime terrorism in the modern world Hurst & Co publishers Ltd, USA. 16. Osmany, Mufleh R and Muzaffer Ahmed (ed), (2003), Security in the twenty first century: A Bangladesh Perspective, Academic Press and Publishers Ltd, Dhaka. 17. Prospect of blue economy, (2017), The Financial Express, 20 August 2017 18. Pauli, Gunter, (2010), The Blue Economy, ISBN 9780912111902. 19. Sakhuja Vijay, (2011), Asian Maritime Power in the 21st Century Strategic Transactions China, India and Southeast Asia, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2011. 20. Till, Geoffrey,(2004), Sea Power: A Guide for the 21st Century, frank Cass, London. 21. UK Government, (2014), National Strategy for Maritime Security, London.

Author

Captain Mirza Mamun-ur-Rashid, (G), afwc, psc, BN was commissioned on 01 July 1990 as ‘Best All Round Midshipman’. He did Gunnery Specialization Course from India and was adjudged as ‘Best All Round Officer’. He has also participated professional courses in Turkey and Thailand. He is a proud alumni of Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii, USA. Being a naval officer Capt Mirza did Officer Physical Training, Army Commando Course and Potential Platoon Commander Course, UN Contingent Commander Course from various institution of Bangladesh Army. He has completed Masters Degree in both Defence Studies and Business Administration. At present the officer is pursuing M Phil on security and strategic studies.

256 He commanded number of BN ships including 03 Frigates. He proudly streamed through the Mediterranean as CO BN Frigate and Contingent Commander of Maritime Task Force in United Nation Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). He also commanded two of the BN shore establishment including Special Force Base. The Captain was the ‘Commandant’ of Special Warfare Diving and Salvage School and also appointed as Instructor in Bangladesh Naval Academy.

He served as staff officer in NHQ, Chief Staff Officer of BN Special Force Command. He was deployed in United Nation Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) as Staff Officer. He was a dedicated agent in prestigious ‘Special Security Force’ and served as both Director and Deputy Director. Presently he is working as Colonel GS in National Defence College.

Email : [email protected]

257 AIR FORCES IN AND OUT 4TH GENERATION WARFARE

Group Captain Muhammad Mushtaqur Rahman, BPP, afwc, psc

“The real conduct of war only makes its appearance incidentally and incognito”

- Von Clausewitz (1832/1968:181)

Before 16th century, the Army used to fight in a small area with lesser frontage and depth. Size of the area gradually increased during 17th and 18th centuries because of more advanced guns and rifles. Area size further increased during French revolutionary wars. Warfare voyaged to the endless sea had surpassed the concept of combat zone though fleets could vitalize the size of area of operations and the theatre of operations. Appearance of Aircraft in war has brought paradigm shifts in the Structure of Military Operations (SMO). As Air power appears in 20th century with speed and ubiquity, it has extended the depth and reach of military operations remarkably. The theatre of operation had to be redefined since the radius of action of aerial fire power went beyond the perceived reach of operational fire. However, evolution of warfare now has faced a counter evolution approach; the SMO seems getting condensed alike those days of Battle of Valmy in 1792. Is it setting a challenge on professional war efforts, more specifically on air power’s ability in quasi primitive environment?

There evolves the concept of 4th Generation Warfare (4GW). Khalji (2012, p.10) quoted U.S. military that has coined armed conflicts as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation wars since 1989. Hammes, in Marine Corps Gazette (1994) defined all 4 generations of warfare. According to that First generation warfare or 1GW is a term referring the battles fought by using line and column tactics with uniformed soldiers governed by the state (p.9). Second generation warfare or 2GW is warfare got prominence after the invention of the rifled musket and later the machine gun as well

258 as indirect fire (p.11). Third generation war focuses on using speed and surprise to bypass the enemy’s lines and attack to collapse their forces from the rear (p.13). Fourth generation warfare or 4GW is also known as asymmetric warfare, waged by small independent action cells (p.19). In contrast to US Marine Corps’ definitions of four generations of warfare, according to General Vladimir Slipchenko of Russian Army, there are total six generations of warfare (Wyly, 1995). 5th and 6th Generations refer to nuclear and information warfare respectively. In the discussion of this article, we would bring Air Power’s role in 4GW. We would bring hybrid, asymmetric and irregular warfare in pretext of that discussion that how far Air Power is contextual, or is it losing its century earned dominance. Before that, it is imperative to identify the core of these fugitive operational arts.

Asymmetric warfare most commonly refers to warfare between opponents not evenly matched where the smaller or weaker force exploits geography, timing, surprise, or specific vulnerabilities of the larger and stronger enemy force to achieve victory (Lerner, undated). Nation states have unitary national interest. Despite of this, due to tyranny, resource battles and ideological conflicts, ‘Non state’ actors came into being and they spread so sporadically around the globe that they do not have any state power, yet a strong power play entity. They are titled as ‘new warriors’ as ‘hardcore believers’ in modern security phraseology (Bunker, 2003). However, so- called Non state actors are actually not ‘Non’ in the real term; most of those have backing from other interested countries and groups. The meaning of the Irish term Sinn Féin is ‘we are alone’ or ‘we ourselves’ though it is long alleged that this fugitive Irish Republicans were not ‘alone’; Libya’s Gaddafi was with them, as to Unionist MP Tom Elliott raised question in British parliament in mid 2016. Today Libya has the irony anyway. The UN recognized Government of national conciliation now being challenged by another unauthorized warlord Khalifa Hafter with clandestine support of a collaborative group of ‘civilized nations’ like France, UAE, Russia, and Egypt. Although it makes not an asymmetric conflict defined, but a sort of ‘dirty warfare’ based on resource battles. In recent months, in that conflict Turkey’s drone operations set to aid UN backed Government 259 Air Forces In and Out 4Th Generation Warfare played vital role to counter shape the battle space in full; whereas unsaid conventional deep strike by French built Rafael aircraft over Turkish targets in Al Watiya air bases has intended to reshape the battlespace. It says the irregularity of warfare is emulated into quite formal conventional air operations par text book. These warlords, and non-state actors as well, are difficult to be handled for many reasons: own population, their known terrain, adoption of asymmetric tactics, etc; and if like Khalifa Haftar, you have extensive support from vested countries. This was not asymmetric Warfare in place. External supports have almost equalized the belligerent. But elements of Asymmetric Warfare exits in many cases when belligerents are not markedly differing. In asymmetric warfare, two belligerents of unequal strength interact and take advantage of respective strengths and weaknesses (Khalji, pp.10-11). They are related with a new era of warfare; calling it as fifth dimensional space-time as emerging element of future war (Bunker, p.98). Although asymmetric conflict is interchangeably used with ‘non state actor’, and even ‘irregular warfare’, for last couple of decades, the aggressor’s ‘doctrine of pre-emption’ has attacked the asymmetric independent states; and that is mainly done with air power. Here comes the proximity of future air power in this discussion. It appears shameful unequal war is imposed by much stronger powers against much inferior and weaker docile nation states. Attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq are the examples. Now, the asymmetric warfare is operationally interpreted as an art how to subside these ‘fugitive’ proletarians. Upon this apprehension, asymmetric conflict will rise not because on only proletarian’s initiative, but also because of attackers’ cowardice mindset of choosing easy prays.

In late 70s, the then USSR, with robust, mighty and vast army supported by air operations with a laxity of air supremacy in their invasion of Afghanistan had been harassed and repelled by handful Mujahedeen. The mighty air operations of both US Air force and Army, in Afghanistan and Iraq, used against so-called insurgents, have mixed experiences. Precision- guided munitions were developed and deployed during the conflict with devastating effect. The lone success story of US Air Power was bringing North Communists to come negotiation tables; but strategically, they 260 neither could let capitalist South Vietnam to survive nor could they stop today’s unified Vietnam, still Socialist. Although air power has proved to be very effective in symmetric conflicts as witnessed in most of the recent conflicts, ‘its inability to bring its full operational capability into play’ (Khalji, p.22) is evident in asymmetric warfare. Above events have prompted future air warfare experts to customize it in accordance with unconventional reality.

Map 1: Israeli Air Force Attack sorties over Lebanon during 2nd Lebanon War

Source: Wikipedia: 2006 Lebanon War

261 Air Forces In and Out 4Th Generation Warfare

As technology including cyberspace mixed with unusual popular methods, hybrid warfare is developed by many warring and struggling groups by employing political warfare. The problem of hybrid threat is that whether it is the modern elements to emerge from primitive elements that allows it to enjoy deceptions at all levels. In response to Israel’s 34-day campaign in Lebanon in July-August 2006 Hezbullah has turned into perfect hybrid of guerillas and regular troops’ (Matthews, 2006, p. 39). Despite of the fact that Israeli Air Force is superior Air Force with most modern fighter attackers, Hezbullah has almost incapacitated the boastful Israeli Defence Force denying the formers enjoying control of the air. Israel’s numerous air sorties all over Lebanon including Beirut (Map 1) could not be decisive, however, it’s strategic air offensives had tumbled Lebanese populace as a whole. Israel relied on air operations to break the network of Hezbullah. But they failed. From commencement to termination, their air operations lacked an operational outline exclusively corresponding with Hezbullah’s seaming maneuver. This was not “failure of Air Power” rather “failure of Air Strategy”. As Lambeth (2011) finds that what ultimately “failed” in the planning and conduct of operation change of direction was not israeli air power or any other instrument of warfare (p. xiv). This shows that superior air power would face difficulty in hybrid environment. The asymmetric forces wish not to take the battle into third dimension, where Air power needs to create operational effect rather than fight at tactical level in such asymmetry. Example is in Syrian civil war: here air Power came more decisive than that of 2nd Lebanon War. In Syrian conflict, although it was turned into irregular and asymmetric warfare, the Syrian Air Force, aided by Russian air efforts, is the main advantage the regime has over the rebels that eventually survived Bashar al Asad who went almost at the verge of befallen at one point of time. The U.S. global security consultancy Stratfor observed (2012) that “The Syrian Air Force is the main advantage the regime has over the rebels.” Yes, the collateral damage was the question: but was Air Power’s limitation of air weaponry or the savage of political leadership of Syria was responsible for that? Air Power has its full-length solutions in all sort of irregular warfare, be in popular peoples’ war with

262 guerrilla tactics, be in urban environment levee en masse tactics. In the Super Powers’ pursuance against popular non-state actors, Air Power has its success option in Urban Warfare as well. Nevertheless, air operations in an urban environment involve significant law of war considerations. ‘Close air support (CAS) may be difficult when supporting house-to-house ground fighting’ in urban Warfare though, sometimes air power enjoys effective advantage than that of ground forces: ‘ground forces may have difficulty marking targets for CAS aircraft in urban terrain, while the “bird’s eye view” of aircraft may help mitigate ground forces’ LOS (Line of Sight) limitations’ (USA JP 3-06, 2013, p.19). Collateral damage is not Air Power’s fault. The subaltern human will always be subjected to collateral damage unless political wisdom is as precise as the weapon of Air Power. Rather invention of precision guided weapon, with surgical accuracy, is a gift to the humanity that targets only the legitimate high pay offs (HPT), not the innocent civilian just nearby. Historically, much more human casualty has taken place in ground offensive than that of air to surface attacks. Palestine people are losing lives every day, by illegitimate air strikes, true. However, they lost more lives in organized genocides through ground operations. The massacre at Deir Yassin took place on 9 April, 1948, months before Isreali Independence; and in 1982, Israeli aided Sabra and Shatila massacre by Lebanese Christian Phalangist militia slaughtered around 3000 Muslims, mostly Palestine. No air Operation was involved there. During our War of Independence, Pakistan military and their collaborators led genocides took millions of lives, how many of those were from air attack’s collateral damage? Rather Air Power’s Technology appears in the arena of quasi primitive guerilla warfare by pursuing Time Sensitive Targets (‘those targets requiring immediate response because they pose (or will soon pose) a danger to friendly forces or are highly lucrative, fleeting targets of opportunity.’ - US DOD, 2005), emerging and Dynamic Targets (‘targeting that prosecutes targets identified too late, or not selected for action in time to be included in deliberate targeting’- U.S. DOD, JP 3-60), more efficiently than that of ground forces. Use of satellite, as a part of aerospace power, is essentially important to deal with TST and dynamic targets those are

263 Air Forces In and Out 4Th Generation Warfare tracked real time. In Imaging and Reconnaissance field, satellites carry out reconnaissance of radar signals and communication signals and intercept the adversary’s remote sensing signals. Today’s air Intelligence is based on Satellite where Spy Satellites are the intelligence tools. Many rebel leaders of 4GW are tracked through this satellite image.

Image 1: Reconnaissance satellite or Spy Satellite

Graphic characterizes the off track imaging capability of the NRO KH- 11 Reconnaissance spacecraft. Image Credit: Trendsbuzz.com (Source: Top Secret KH-11 Spysat Design Revealed By NRO’s Twin Telescope Gift to NASA By Craig Covault, on June 6th, 2012)

Thereby, in the facade of prominence of irregular warfare, it is unwise to conclude that future warfare will seek an alternative of air power. With its fabulous way of exploiting third dimension and above, air and aerospace power will continue to be pivotal and it is unlikely to be substituted. Russia was almost deadlocked after cold war in booming race of air power development that they had during Communist era; off late, for last decades in a reverse shake, it is recognizing that conventionally developed air power will be required in emerging world order. There is some misleading analogy to undermine the merit of air power in Irregular Warfare. For instance, irregular and unconventional warfare of Viet Kong are profoundly applauded to refer that American bombers’ effort proven futile in the face of Viet Kong Campaign at the ground. This connotation has partial information only. Gropman (1996, p. 33) found that ‘the Vietnam

264 Map 2: Air Interception: TuAF F-16 Fighter shots Russian Strike Aircraft Su-24

Source: Listen to dramatic moment Turkey warns Russian fighter jet to retreat before shooting it down: by Anthony Bond 25 NOV 2015; (www. dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news) war was a humiliating, exceptionally expensive, and probably unnecessarily American defeat’. Nonetheless, one of major contributions of Vietnamese success came from fierce Defensive Counter Air Operations (DCAO) of North Vietnam Air Force (NVAF). The MIG series Air Defence Fighters of NVAF did make American bombers and strikers perplexed throughout the Theatre of Operations with quick air interceptions. The conflict also witnessed widespread use of Surface to Air Missiles (SAM) as well as its counter through Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) and anti-radiation missiles. Fighter aircrafts have fierce manoeuvres, air interceptions and air operations up in the endless sky. Because being unseen to peoples’ naked eye on the earth, it remains undiscussed in regards of role of Air Power in ‘sizing up’ irregular threats. Its role is not unimportant even when the war is set in an asymmetric environment. Today whole world stares at the most complex battlespace in Northern Syria. In late November 2015, a formation of Turkish Air Force F-16 had chased two Russian Su-24 those

265 Air Forces In and Out 4Th Generation Warfare were committing ground attack on ethnic Turkman rebels in support of Syrian regime while another offshoot Hezbullah was conducting their hybrid techniques against Turkey sponsored Turkmen and Sunni civilians in the area. As the Turkish fighter shot down one Russian fighter in combat, entire battle was ceased to silence in favour of Turkman; Hizbullah and Syrian Regime soldiers divested all efforts to rescue ejected Russian Pilot; one of two was, however, found fatal. The victory down at the ground of this hybrid and irregular battle was redefined simply by a piece of air interception. The professional and conventional sets of air operations including conventional Ground Controlled Interceptions (GCI) seem equal to the task silencing (or supporting) irregular, unconventional and hybrid tactics. In recent Indo-Pak conflict in February 2019, triggered by alleged terror attack in Pulwama that caused countable fatal of security personal, India’s military campaign against Kashmiri guerillas extended beyond international Line of Control, has learnt something different. Image 2: USA Drone Killed Qasim Solaimani

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ article-7847795/How- airstrike-Iranian-general-unfolded-Baghdad.html; accessed on 24 September 2020

266 Kashmiris are fighting an irregular war with India’s mighty military. But Indian well-prepared counter insurgency in a 4GW enviorenment was eventually silenced by yet another single piece of air interception by a PAF Air Defence Fighter. The ejected pilot has become the key to cease campaign. Air Power not only begins the war, it also silences a war, and be it in irregular setting. This is imprudent to question Air Power’s ability in growing 4GW where Air Power has technological reach to her zenith. Whatever tactics the popular peoples’ war takes, todays Air Power has final technological punch. Air Power, despite of its constraints in such Low Intensity Conflict, has negotiated with strategic persecution equally: heroic Chechen Leader Dudayev, who was unreachable to the Special Forces, was assassinated by employing Air Launch Anti-radiation missiles intercepting Electromagnetic spectrum of his mobile communication. That finally marked the victory for the Russian military. Air Power’s innovation of UAV, and later UCAV have set her at the kingpin position over all sorts of 4GW. Through UAV and UCAV, Air Power has brought down irregular warfare under its surveillance and precision attack. UCAV will continue to progress in terms of lethality, stealthiest, speed, solar powered, loitering capability etc. Global Hawk and Predators have shown world what they could achieve in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Rather today’s UCAV has become the tools of global terror led by super powers. Hussain (2010) finds that UCAVs operations today are largely restricted to small, lightly armed derivatives of more conventional UAVs. The technology for fielding real UCAVs has many critical areas that are already proven and mature. It has become a tools of irregular Strategic Air Offensive when USA military UCAV has killed Iranian elite military strategist Major General Qasim Solaimani early January this year: MQ-9 Raptor taking off from a Qatari Air Base, and struck not only the General but also his proxy in Iraq, a Iran-backed militia figure Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in a precise targeting and with a lethal effect of annihilation. It is said to have effective synchronization of “informants, electronic intercepts, reconnaissance aircraft and other surveillance” (TRT News, 2020). Recently in the Nagorno-Karabakh battle that has intense in this

267 Air Forces In and Out 4Th Generation Warfare early October 2020, drones played havoc; Israeli ‘self-destruction Harop that has anti-radiation self-destruction capabilities to destroy Air Defence Ground environment and Russian Ground Based Weapon System. Indian Air Force also has got this machine (Defence World.net, 2019). The most superb play probably Turkey has done with it’s Bayraktar drone that has stunned the battlespace by destroying Armenian armoured, Russia supplied GBAD system and military headquarters impactful procession. The video extract ‘Nagorno-Karabakh: Turkish Bayraktar drone vs. Russian Osa anti-aircraft system’ (2020) explains that ‘Drones of this type have already been used in combat- in Syria and Libya, where they fought other, more advanced Russian Pancyr-S1 anti-aircraft systems.’ UCAV is developed in the face of 4GW, but now it has become a regular military warrior in professional battles. Most importantly the silver lining difference between Low Intense Conflicts and Irregular Warfare is now blur; and war appliances are intermingled within conventional and irregular war so much so that Air Forces do not distinguish them any more while making weaponing; except the strategic clearances of political implications.

Image 3: Sketch of Directed Energy Weapon

Source: DRDO working on hi-tech Directed Energy Weapons (Indian Defence News; defenceupdate.in/ accessed on 24 Setember 2020)

268 Air Power has the ability to enrich 4GW: Air Power’s gift to the 4GW is manifold. Not only in such ‘hard kills’, it has ‘soft kill’ abilities itself. As an alternative to ‘lethal Air Power weapon’, there might be a future option of ‘non-lethal Air Power Weapon’. Nevertheless, induction of non-lethal weapon does not mean a total departure from lethal weapon. Directed-energy weapon is one of such alternatives. A directed-energy weapon (DEW) emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Intended effects on humans may be non-lethal or lethal. These effects have been categorized as physical, physiological and psychological. (UK MOD, 2011) DEW’s are used on people who are the targets of operations such as Information Operations by countries including the UK (JWP 3-80, 2002, p.2A8) and the USA (USAWC Information Operations Primer, AY12, 2012, p.6). Information Operations are stated to be used by US militaries domestically (Ruppert, 2013) as well as abroad (USAWC, p.8). Advanced countries have already given priority to DEW; as Medison (2023) finds ‘While it may sound like complete science fiction, the Air Force is actually preparing to spend $49 million to research the biological effects of non- lethal directed energy weapons in hopes of creating future weaponry that manipulates the body on a biochemical or molecular level.’ However, DEW would not be a substitute of lethal Air Power weapon in totality. The fabulous development of airpower will keep it crucial in human warfare of days ahead in many forms.

Air Power is not only capable of dealing with irregular and peoples wars, it is, through its conventional operations can support the peoples’ war. Bangladesh Air Force was born during fierce days of our Liberation War in 1971. Kilo Flight, the embryo of today’s BAF, had set forth outstanding Strategic Air Offensives over Narayangonj and Chattogram Eastern Refinery depot. The technicians of Kilo Flights had modified oldage docile transport aircraft and helicopters into fierce combat airplane that attacked Pakistan war reserve and military potentials. Operations flown by Kilo Flight pilots on 03 and 04 December 1971 had denied the Pakistan military force of their fuel reserve against our peoples’ war. On the other 269 Air Forces In and Out 4Th Generation Warfare

Image 4: Drone Targeting Armoured

Source: Capture from video released by Azerbaijan Ministry of Defense depicting a drone strike on Armenian T-72 tanks in September 2020. (Extracted from Turkish Drones Over Nagorno-Karabakh—And Other Updates From A Day-Old War by Sebastian Roblin in Forbes, 28 September 2020 issue) facet, as Allied Indian Air Force operated between 05 and 15 December was marvelous. The phase of the battle was so that we got to strike; not defence. But BAF Veterans, those senior Freedom Fighter officers, have learnt a lesson of their lifetime how Air Defence was the prime concern for this land of Bengal. Pakistan military notion of fighting an almost unconventional force without a consideration of robust interceptor fighters paid them high. Although the half-folded Saber Squadron and ‘Dhaka Radar’ (present days 71 Squadron Radar) let the airspace to sustain till December 6th morning: as IAF Chief PC Lal has his memoir: ‘The radar cover at EAC was good but so was that at Dhaka. Every raid of IAF was anticipated by the PAF and the latter scrambled to intercept our aircraft during first two days of the war’ (Lal, 1986). Thereafter the defender’s paradise had become offender’s paradise. Finally, the unimpeded IAF

270 MiG-21 attack over the Governor house on 14 December 1971 prompted a resignation of erstwhile provincial government of the then East Pakistan (Mohan, 2014): and the Pakistani military had to lay their arms down within 48 hours. Agreed that the success of peoples’ war had already brought Bengali nation on the verge of independence though, these air combats played pivotal role on the juncture of the most aspired birth of Bangladesh. That is the lesson through which we began our journey.

References

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10. Gropman (1996), A. L., Colonel, War in the Third Dimension: The Air War in Vietnam, ed. Air Vice Marshal R. A., Mason, Bressy’s Limited (1st Indian Publications, New Delhi).

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13. Horgan (2013), John, ‘Unmanned Flights: The Drones Come Home’, National Geographic March.

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272 20. Littlejohn (2006), Randy, Air Warfare of the Future, (http://books. google.com.bd/ books/about/ Air_Warfare_of_the_Future).

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30. Wyly (1995), Michael D Col USMC, ‘Fourth Generation Warfare: What Does It Mean to Every Marine?’ Marine Corps Gazette.

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Author

Group Captain Muhammad Mushtaqur Rahman was commissioned in ADWC branch on 03 January 1991. His professional training includes Basic ADWC course at Fighter Controllers Training Unit, Ground Control Interception course at School of Air Defence and NATO Air Defence Ground Environment (NADGE) in Turkey, AD Command Orientation course at AD System School at Lahore in PAF and Squadron Commander’s Orientation Course at College of Air Warfare at Hyderabad in IAF. He has served throughout in different Air Defence (AD) units of Bangladesh in various types of AD Radars, AD Command and Control Centres and in training institutes in operational, staff and instructional capacities; those include Officer Commanding of four radar Squadrons and one Radar Unit; Chief Instructor at FCTU and 2-I-C at ADOC. As an AD Fighter Controller, he has accredited nearly 600 live air interceptions in a rare procession. He has completed Air Staff course at DSCSC in Mirpur, Command and Staff course at Air Force Command College in Beijing and Armed Forces War Course in National Defence College at Dhaka. He has served as Directing Staff at DSCSC Mirpur and commanded Command and Staff Training Institute of Bangladesh Air Force. He has worked briefly as visiting faculty to conduct joint warfare workshops at DSCSC in Sri Lanka twice in 2012 and 2014. He has served in Mission Air Operations Centre (MAOC) in Kinshasa under UN Mission in DRC in 2005. He has completed MBA from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Dhaka University and completed his MDS from National University. At present he is working as Directing Staff in Armed Forces War Course Wing at National Defence College.

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