Taj Hashmi

STRANGER THAN FICTION

Professor of Security Studies at Austin Peay State University. His recent publications include Global Jihad and America: The Hundred-Year War Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan.

Removal of Nawaz Sharif and the future of Pakistan

We know, since the assassination of the first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, no Pakistani Prime Minister has been able to complete his or her full term in office. However, someone's stating this becomes clichéd or worn-out unless one discerns the different circumstances leading to each removal and dismissal.

Two disasters, two countries, two peoples

Surprisingly, “baby boomers” (born between 1946 and 1960)—the generation that took part in the Liberation War—and “millennials” (born between mid-1980s and early 2000s) of Bangladesh (both supposed to be articulated, brave, and liberal), to put it mildly, also seem to be apathetic and opportunistic, even during times of national emergencies.

Trump's Riyadh rendezvous

Although there's no reason to take Donald Trump's erratic behaviour, and his ambivalent and unsavoury assertions seriously, we can't ignore what he staged in Riyadh in the name of defeating Islamist terrorism on May 21.

What's so “interesting” in Bangladesh today?

Interest-ingly, “interesting” is an English expression, which may hide one's actual opinion about something one considers “interesting”.

A gambit and a war crime

There are contrad-ictory opinions about who on April 4 used chemical weapons, which killed more than 80 civilians, including children in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in Syria.

ISIS threats in Bangladesh - Denials and Delusions

It has happened again! In the wake of the latest round of terror attacks in Bangladesh, with ISIS claiming credit for it, authorities in the...

Another regression therapy for Bangladesh?

A recent move by the Government to allow child marriage under special circumstances is tantamount to excluding many Bangladeshis from the benefits of growth and development.

Corruption in Bangladesh: Perceptions vs. reality

The country has already become a lower middle-income country. So far so good! However, these indexes don't always tell us the whole truth about the states of governance, corruption, poverty, inequality, and most importantly, frequent violations of human rights across the country.

November 3, 2016
November 3, 2016

Foreign Policy article on Bangladesh: A Most Unfortunate Conclusion

It’s absurd! It's preposterous to suggest that around 40 percent of Bangladeshis favour suicide terrorism. Yet this is what some American think tanks and “expert analysts” have recently come up with in their reports, to the detriment of Bangladesh's reputation.

October 19, 2016
October 19, 2016

Should America intervene in Yemen?

While Americans are engrossed in Donald Trump's vulgar and offensive comments on women, and allegations about his sexual misconduct with multiple women in the past, seemingly the US Administration is busy teaching the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels a lesson.

October 8, 2016
October 8, 2016

Suing Saudi Arabia for 9/11: Another American obsession

Americans since the founding of the United States seem to be in a perennial state of narcissist obsession.

September 12, 2016
September 12, 2016

Fifteen Years after 9/11: Is America any safer?

Is America Any Safer” is the cover story of this September's Atlantic magazine. CNN and other media outlets are also commemorating

August 6, 2016
August 6, 2016

Terrorists in Bangladesh

The poor, marginalised, and uninformed madrasa students in Bangladesh are too weak and disorganised to spearhead any violent or revolutionary movement. This explains why urban, rich, and secular-educated – not rural, poor, and madrasa-educated – youths appear so far to be the main foot soldiers of Islamist terror.

July 28, 2016
July 28, 2016

Countering terrorism in Bangladesh

Politicians and law-enforcers in Bangladesh, from time to time, hype up both panic and complacency by publicizing the following: “terrorists everywhere” or “no terrorists anywhere”, in the country. The ambivalence is counterproductive to counterterrorism (CT) operation.

July 21, 2016
July 21, 2016

Is Kemalism on its way out in Turkey?

The enigmatic coup-attempt in Turkey on the night of July 15 and 16 signals something ominous about the future of Turkey, NATO, and the entire region.

July 17, 2016
July 17, 2016

When terrorism isn’t terrorism, to America

I find my White American students – even the very bright ones – totally confused, the moment I ask them if White police brutality against Black people in America amounts to terrorism. Most White students attribute the killings of black people by

July 4, 2016
July 4, 2016

Should there still be ambiguity?

Although some Bangladeshi politicians till the recent past – the home minister repeated his position on July 3 2016 that the Holey Artisan Bakery massacre has no ISIS link...

June 18, 2016
June 18, 2016

Maniruzzaman Miah, as I knew Him

Although he was more of a guru and mentor to me, Professor Maniruzzaman Miah was also a very good friend of mine. He was

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