ABSTRACT
Despite a topsy-turvy beginning surrounding the politics during the birth of Bangladesh while fighting its War of Independence in 1971, Bangladesh-Gulf relations hit off positively soon in the early 1970s. Bangladesh's need for aid to address its war-ravaged economy in the post-independence period was readily met by the wealthy nations of the Gulf. Bangladesh has also been a steady supplier of migrant labour in the region. Bangladesh has been globally the eleventh-highest remittance earning country in 2019, primarily due to a stronger US economy and the rise in oil prices that generated outward remittances, particularly from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In this chapter, I plan to articulate different stages of the relationship between Bangladesh and the GCC countries—six in number. In a globalised world of complex interdependence, both GCC countries and Bangladesh can develop stronger ties emphasising each other's strengths and areas of engagement. While the Covid-SARS pandemic has temporarily constrained people's transfer from one country to the other, Bangladesh still holds a particular strength in terms of providing uninterrupted labour supply once the channels reopen. Bangladesh's strength in providing unskilled and low-skilled labour is unparalleled not only in terms of number but also in terms of the familiarity of religion and culture and thus bears a geopolitical implication for the region. Moreover, Bangladesh has strong bilateral ties with individual Gulf Countries. Bangladesh is also a potent security partner of the region aptly demonstrated during the Kuwait crisis in 1991. Thus, the article uses both materialist and constructivist approaches to understand the bases of the relationship between Bangladesh and the Gulf Region. While doing so, it articulates how ideas and norms play a key role in shaping the material foundations of the relationship. However, there is a dearth of academic literature on understanding the patterns of relationship between the Gulf countries and Bangladesh. This article aims to fill the lacuna through scholarly analysis of the proposed analytical framework to explore different patterns and aspects of the relationship between Bangladesh and the Gulf countries to comprehend the geopolitical impacts and security implications of such a relationship.
