Bangladesh: Anatomy of Change

Abdul Awal Mintoo's 'Bangladesh: Anatomy of Change' examines the sweeping transformations reshaping the country in an era of post-GATT trade liberalization and globalization. Democracy at home and global economic integration abroad have opened vast opportunities for Bangladesh to accelerate social and economic development and fight poverty. Yet seizing these opportunities demands painful changes in administrative and political institutions, economic and financial structures, and social behavior. Many who advocate change fall into one of two traps: they either preach from purely theoretical perspectives with little grasp of social realities, or they draw from narrowly specialized experience that does not apply broadly.

Mintoo, born in 1949 in the remote Feni village of Aleyarpur, escapes both limitations. His journey from village schooling to the Juldia Marine Academy, service as a merchant marine officer across four continents, political asylum in the US during the 1971 liberation war, and degrees from the State University of New York gave him a rare breadth of experience. Kazi Fazlur Rahman notes that Mintoo can hardly be accused of ivory tower preaching or narrow specialization, making his analysis of Bangladesh's path forward both grounded and credible.