BANGLADESH IN UNITED NATIONS PEACE KEEPING OPERATIONS: EXPLORING THE ‘SOFT POWER’ DIMENSION

Bimansenna, Vol: 47, 2014, Bangladesh in UNPKO: Exploring the Soft Power Dimensions

BANGLADESH IN UNITED NATIONS PEACE KEEPING OPERATIONS:EXPLORING THE ‘SOFT POWER’ DIMENSION

Group Captain Mohammad Zahidul Islam Khan,psc,acsc

1. Introduction

1.1 Bangladesh’s participation in United Nations Peacekeeping

Operations (UNPKO) for almost three decades now has been lauded as

one of the brightest of chapters in terms of contributing to

mainstream global initiatives. Numerous researches and discourses on

this issue focuses on the reflections of individual experiences,

professional and financial gains, training value in multinational

environment often through some number crunching exercises like total

troops contributed, amount of foreign currency earned, budgetary

allocation benefits etc. Of late, some researchers have attempted to

establish links of domestic politics, national interest, global

identity and more interestingly the relevance of Concordance theory

of civil military relationship with Bangladesh’s involvement in

UNPKO.1 However, participation in UNPKO is also a reflection of a

1 See Mohammad Humayun Kabir (2013), “Global benefits, nationalmotives” available at: http://www.dandc.eu/en/article/why-bangladesh-sends-troops-un-missions-and-how-world-benefits-such-engagement/ (accessed on 22 Jun 2014); Rashed Uz Zaman and NiloyBiswas, “Top Contributors: Bangladesh” in Alex J. Bellamy and PaulD. Williams (eds) Providing Peacekeepers: The Politics, Challenges, and Future ofUnited Nations Peacekeeping , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, PartIII, Chapter 8; C.S.R. Murthy, “Unintended consequences of peaceoperations for troop-contributing countries from South Asia,” in

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country’s normative character, commitment and resolve to the global

peace and security and hence connects to the wider discourse of

‘soft power’ of a country to wield influence in pursuit of her

national interest. First coined by Joseph S. Nay Jr in 1990s, ‘soft

power’ of a nation refers to its ability to attract and persuade others

to shape their preferences.2 As opposed to ‘hard power’ that relies

on coercion and inducement, soft power grows from the attractiveness

of a country's political ideals, culture and policies. Thus, it

would perhaps be logical to explore the extent to which Bangladesh’s

policy, practice and culture of participation in UNPKO by

contributing large number of forces, has added to her ‘soft power’

and examine the future potentials. To set the context, this paper

first explains the concept of soft power and situates the UNPKO in the

soft power measurement matrix. Second it provides an overview of

Bangladesh’s participation in the UNPKO. Against these backdrops,

the paper finally explores the links of soft power potentials of

Bangladesh and the means and ways it can be operationalized.

2. Conceptualizing Soft Power

Chiyuki Aoi, Cedric de Coning and Ramesh Thakur, eds., Unintendedconsequences of peacekeeping operations, Tokyo: UN University Press, 2007,p.160. 2 Joseph S. Nay (2004), Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, USA:Public Affairs, p.5

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2.1 Joseph Nay’s soft power, often labeled as the ‘second

face of power’ emanates from the ability to attract and

persuade others (see table 1). It is defined as “the ability

to affect others to obtain preferred outcomes by the co-

optive means of framing the agenda, persuasion and positive

attraction.” As opposed to coercing or inducing through

tangible gains/ punishments, soft power aims to co-opt others by

virtue of their values, culture and institutional practice of

policies that bears higher moral authority. It is important to

make the distinction here between soft power and influence.

Influence can be achieved even by coercion, bribe or payment

but soft power rests on one’s ability to generate observable

intangible attraction with no such threat or transactions taking

place. Thus the currency for soft power is like, to borrow

from Adam Smith, the ‘invisible hand’ -- an intangible

attraction that persuades others to be co-opted to follow the

agenda that has been framed.

Figure 1: Hard and Soft Power

Hard Power Soft PowerSpectrum of Behaviors Command

Coercion, Inducement

Agenda Setting, Attraction

Co-opt

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Most Likely Resources

Force, Payment

Sanctions, Bribes

Institutions, Practices

Values, Culture, Policies

Source: Joseph S. Nay (2004), p.8

2.2 State with no hard power (i.e. military) can still hold

ample of soft power. For example, the Vatican holds

considerable soft power in the international politics despite

the loss of the Papal state in Italy two centuries ago.

Countries that hold and promote global norms like liberalism,

pluralism, autonomy, world peace and care for environment etc

bolstered by their domestic performances holds great

potentials to gain from their soft power. Recently published

global ‘Good Country Index’ credits countries that provide

troops and financial contribution to the UNPKO in positive

scale.3 Leveraging from their support and culture for

international aid and peacekeeping, countries like Canada, the

Netherlands, Norway greatly benefits from their soft power

that are often greater than their military or economic might.

The evolution of the soft power concept saw the introduction

of ‘smart power’ – a close cousin of soft power.4 Smart power

3 See Helen Walters (2014), “The Good Country Index” available at:http://www.goodcountry.org/ (accessed 23 Jun 2014). 4 Former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is one of the strongproponents of Smart Power. A Commission on Smart Power was also

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seeks to combine the elements of hard and soft power in ways

that mutually reinforces the actor’s purposes and advanced

them effectively and efficiently.5 The core elements of smart

power includes: target over which one seeks to exercise power,

Self-knowledge and understanding of one’s own goals and

capacities, The broader regional and global context within which the

action will be conducted and finally the tools to be employed,

as well as how and when to deploy them individually and in

combination.6

2.3 Be that as it may, the unique attributes of soft power

makes it and important and preferred tool for policy makers to

achieve the desired outcome particularly for small or powerful

states alike for various reasons. First, in this information age,

soft power is emerging and getting more influential even with

less hard power support. Indeed gaining soft power is much easier

formed led by Joseph Nye and Richard Armitage at the Center forStrategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the USA in 2006. See“A smarter, more secure America”, available at:http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/071106_csissmartpowerreport.pdf/ (accessed on 18 Jun 2014).5 See Willson, E. III (2008) “Hard Power, Soft Power, Smart Power”,Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 616, March,pp. 110-1246 These core elements are from USA perspective but may apply in other context. See Ibid, p. 115

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than rearming.7 Today, states’ power is increasingly couched on

her capacity to create and manipulate knowledge and

information. Even in an era of (apparent) unipolarity, the

‘other superpower’ is not a ‘state’ but the ‘global public

opinion’ and in the final analysis ‘whose story wins’ matters

more than ‘whose military wins’.8 Second, soft power can accord

increased room for manoeuvre for the small states and grant more

opportunity to resist coercion in the international politics.

Indeed as Alan Chong demonstrates by illustrating the case of

small states like Panama, Singapore and the Vatican City, one

can contemplate soft power as a means of “virtual enlargement”

of small states’ foreign policy reach and presence.9 Such a

virtual enlargement could be an important catalyst for

countries like Bangladesh to enjoy more influence in

international diplomacy and mediation for peace. Third, in

today’s networked world, soft power transcends the elitism of

classic diplomacy and increasingly puts well-informed global public

7 See Chong, Alan. (2007) “Foreign Policy in Global Information Space: ActualizingSoft Power”. New York: Palgrave McMillan. 8 See Gregory F. Treverton and Seth G. Jones, Measuring National Power,Santa Monica: RAND Corporation, 2005, p. 139 Chong Alan (2007), The Foreign Policy Potential of “Small State Soft Power” Information Strategies, available at: http://www.eisa-net.org/be-bruga/eisa/files/events/turin/Chong-ALAN%20CHONG%202007%20The%20Foreign%20Policy%20Potential%20of%20Small%20State%20Soft%20Power.pdf/ (accessed on 16 Jun 2014)

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into play. Smarter and more active small states with their

ability for creatively engage the global environment can

greatly leverage from their soft power, protecting national

interest. Indeed, the notion of soft power can be expanded as

a ‘rainbow policy’ of nation-building, image building as a

peace promoter by small states with strong commitment to

UNPKO.

3. Soft Power and UNPKO: Does it Fit Well in the Matrix?

3.1 There are considerable debates regarding the instruments

of soft power in general and considering participation in

UNPKO as a soft power tool in particular. Indeed some

researcher limits soft power instruments within the cultural,

governmental, diplomatic, educational, business and innovation

dimensions.10 They completely disregard the fungibility of

10 See Jonathan McClory (2010) The New Persuaders: An international ranking ofsoft power, London: Institute for Government. p. 3 and appendix B forSoft power Index Matrix. Also see Zachary Keck (2013) “The Hard Sideof Soft Power: Soft Power is widely misunderstood– military andeconomic capabilities can be important soft power assets” TheDiplomat, July 24, 2013.

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military power11 and cite Nay’s contention that the soft power

of a country rests heavily on: “its culture (in places where

it is attractive to others), its political values (when it

lives up to them at home and abroad), and its foreign policies

(when others see them as legitimate and having moral

authority).”12 However, they ignore Nay’s warning: “wide usage

(of soft power) has sometimes meant misuse of the concept as a

synonym for anything other than military force.” Indeed, Nay

(2004) himself endorsed UNPKO as a soft power tool when he

cited that the participation of a small Polish military as

part of international coalition in the Iraq war, was “not only

to curry favour with the United States but also to a way to

create a broader positive image of Poland in world affairs”.13

Similarly, Lt General Simon Mayall in his evidence to the UK

House of Lords “Soft Power and The UK’s Influence Committee”

asserts that “boxing up” military as a ‘hard power’ instrument

– used only in crisis, wars and conflicts, amount to a huge

11 See Khan, M.Z. Islam (2004) for an illuminating accounts of the“Fungilibity of Military Power and Imperatives of Small Nations”,BIISS Journal, Vol.27, No.1, January 2006.12 Joseph S. Ney Jr., (2006), “Think Again: Soft Power” Foreign Policy,February 23, Available at:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2006/02/22/think_again_soft_power/ (Accessed 22 Jun 2014)13 Joseph Nay (2004), Opcit, p.10

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loss of national advantage. Aspects of military power when

used peacefully can also are seen as a soft-power engagement,

not least the way in which the military and civilian

organisations react and interact with each other.14 Speaking to

the same Committee, Professor Michael Cox commented that

‘quite a lot of soft power derives from hard power’ stressing

that positive engagement of the military and behavior of the

military personnel deployed oversees can contributed to the

strengthening of soft power.

Table 2: Reflection of State’s Participation in UNPKO inSelected Global Indexes Index Name Categories and

(Indicators)Indicator(s)Related toState’s

Participationin UNPKO

Bangladesh’s

Ranking/Score inUNPKO

RelatedCategory

OverallRanking ofBangladesh

The Good Country Index(Ranks 125States)

35 indicators under seven categories: Science and Tech (5), Culture (5), Int’l Peace and Security (5), World Order (5), Planet andClimate (5), Prosperity and Equality (5),

Features as two of the five indicators under category “Int’l Peace and Security” as : Peacekeepingtroops

Dues in arrears to

52nd in the World and 2nd in South Asia(2014 index)

91st “GoodCountry” in the world and 3rd in South Asia(2014 index)

14 House of Lords, Soft Power and the UK’s Influence Committee: Oraland Written Evidence – Volume I (A-G), pp.245-

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Health &Wellbeing (5).

UNPKO budgets

Global Peace Index ( Ranks 162 States)

22 indicators under Internal Peace (13) and External Peace (9) category

Features under“External Peace ” category as:

Financial contributionto UNPKO

Provides overall ranking only

98th most “Peaceful country” in the world, 3rd in South Asia (2014index)

Soft PowerIndex (Ranks 26 States)

23 indicators under five categories: Diplomacy (5), Business/ Innovation (5),Culture (5), Government (5),Diplomacy (5), Education (3).

Does not include any UNPKO related indicator

Does not include Bangladesh

Does Not include Bangladesh

Fund forPeaceFailedStateIndex(Ranks 177States)

88 Indicatorsgrouped undertwo broadcategories:Social &Economic (48)and Political &Military (40)Category eachdivided in sixsub-categories.

Features undersub- category “External Intervention ”of Political &Military Category as: - Presence of

Peacekeepers.

- Presence ofUN Missions.

5.9 (out of 10) 7th most affected state by ‘External Intervention’ in South Asia. Bangladesh’s best score out of all sixsub- categories.

29th “Failed State” in the world and 4th in South Asia(2012 index)

Note: Numbers in the bracket in column 2 indicates total number of indicators used in thatdimension.Source: Author’s compilation from the mentioned Indexes.

3.2 Endorsement of UNPKO as a soft power instruments can also

be traced to various state centric global index that ranks

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different countries. Indexes like Good Country Indexes (GCI),

Global Peace Index (GPI), Failed States Index (FSI) are oft

cited global indexes where a state’s participation in UNPKO is

factored in to determine the overall ranking. Table 2 reflects

how a country’s participation in UNPKO is measured in these

indexes. As evident from the table, there are two measurable

dimensions of peace keeping linked to the soft power discourse

(i) the financial contribution of individual state to international

peace keeping and (ii) the contributions of troops and assets by the

Troops Contributing Counties (TCCs). According to the UN

General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 55/235, the financial

contribution for peacekeeping operations by individual state

is based on the scale of assessments for the regular budget of

the UN, with an appropriate and transparent system of

adjustments based on levels of Member States.15 Thus, developed

countries provide bulk of the budget for peacekeeping

missions16 while the assets and troops mostly comes from the

professional militaries of developing states. In 2011, over 72

percent of UNPKO budget came from USA, Japan, UK, Germany,

France, Italy and China. On the other hand, Bangladesh, like15 See http://www.un.org/en/ga/contributions/assessments.shtml (Accessed on 22 Jun 2014)16 See UNPKO, The Year in Review 2011, p. 80.

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49 other countries is a level J financial contributor and

apportioned to contribute only 0.0010 of the total UNPKO

expenses for the year 2013 but remains a leading TCC.17 An

important caveat here is, many developed countries

default/delay in paying their contribution prompting

researchers to factor in the ‘dues in areas to UN peacekeeping

budget’ rationalized against their pledged total annual

contribution.18

3.3 The measurement of the second element, (i.e.

troops/assets contributions) has been problematic as it is

either disregarded19 or has been reduced to mere number.

Measuring a country’s participation in UNPKO only by numbers

could be misleading as Robert J. Art puts: “used peacefully,

military power is held at the ready and its exact influence …

becomes more difficult to trace.’20 In reality, today’s17 See p.9 of “Scale of assessments for the apportionment of theexpenses of the UNPKO” available at:http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/67/224/Add.1/(Accessed 14 Jun 2014)18 See Good Country Index Sources available at:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_LraysM-ZnMTk-sD5u67eLfTLJOIJ1_dDA_x2FRr7IY/edit#gid=359805448/ (accessed on 14Jun 2014)19 Global Peace Index takes into account only the state’s financial contribution to UNPKO. 20 Robert J Art (2009) “The Fungibility of Force” in Robert J Art andKenneth N Waltz (eds), The Use of Force: Military Power and International Politics,

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http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/67/224/Add.1/


peacekeeping operations are not only limited to maintaining

ceasefires, separating adversaries, demobilizing combatants,

delivering humanitarian relief but also includes enabling

refugees and displaced persons to return home, creating

conditions for political reconciliation and holding free

elections, security sector reforms etc. All these activities

are non-traditional military roles and runs contrary to the

accepted notion of military being only a coercive power –

often measured through number of troops, guns, aircraft or

ships. Indeed, the concept of soft power is too powerful to be

reduced to some number crunching exercises as it fails to take

into account the fungible nature of military power. Not surprisingly

thus Steve Green21, after revising several indexes on soft

power, suggests that the inclusion of military and trade

power, (when used to induce attraction), in the soft power

matrix would be a “useful antidote” to get a nuanced picture.

Thus the potential of military power employed in UNPKO adding

to a state’s soft power is preordained and fits well in the

USA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, p.3.21 Steve Green is the current chair of the Selection and Monitoring Panel for the European Capitals of Culture. See his chronicles on “Soft Power? Can it be measured?” http://prasino.eu/2012/03/07/soft-power-can-it-be-measured-part-two/(accessed on 23 Jun 2014)

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matrix of measuring soft power of a nation as it attracts and

persuades others for peace and not coercion.

4. Overview of Bangladesh’s Participation in UNPKO

4.1 Bangladesh’s participation in UNPKO has been the

brightest of chapters in country’s positive image in the

international community bolstering its soft power. As table 2

reflects, despite low overall global ranking, Bangladesh’s

position is modest in categories where her participation in

the UNPKO is factored in. For example, Bangladesh ranks as the

91st ‘good country’ in the world but her position in terms of

contribution to International Peace and Security (one of the

sub cluster of GCI) is placed at 32nd amongst the 125 states

and entities. In South Asia, Bangladesh’s overall position is

3rd but in terms of contribution to peace and security it is

ranked as 2nd in the GCI. Bangladesh is one of the very few

countries in the world that have recognized the UN Charter in

her national constitution. Country’s strong commitment to

global peace and security and multilateralism is manifested

through the footprints of Bangladeshi peacekeepers in 54 UNPKO

missions in 39 countries. Between 2008-13, Bangladesh ranked

as the 2nd largest TCC in UNPKO (see Figure 3) contributing

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around 17 percent of the total force. In Average, one out of

every ten peacekeepers deployed in the UN mission is from

Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s contribution in UNPKO is balanced and

modest as evident from table 4. Based on the total active

military personnel available, Bangladesh contributed 24

uniformed personnel out of every 1000 active duty personnel of

her Armed Forces between 2008-13. More significantly,

Bangladesh has been the chosen country by the UN whenever it

required meeting the urgent demand of deploying

59184; 17%

57934; 17%

49942; 15%33695; 10%

25450; 7%

25211; 7%

24161; 7%

23520; 7%

21799; 6%18671; 5%

Figure 3: Total Troops Contribution by Top 10 TCCs : 2008-2013

PakistanBangladeshIndiaNigeriaEthiopeaNepalRwandaEgyptJordanGhana

Source: Consolidated from the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 UNPKO YearIn Review and data available at: www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/contributors.shtml/

peacekeepers or to respond to any humanitarian crisis in short

notice.22 In 2010, in Haiti, when hundreds of thousands people22 Ban Ki-moon, (2011), Remarks at the Bangladesh Institute of PeaceSupport Operation Training (BIPSOT) by the UN Secretary-General, Ban

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died and nearly one million lost their lives in a terrible

earthquake, Bangladesh responded positively to the urgent UN

call for troops and subsequently became the first Muslim

majority nation to deploy an all-women contingent in a UNPKO.23

Similarly, in case of South Sudan and Mali missions,

Bangladesh’s response to deploy troops and assets were

positive despite extreme weather and hostile conditions where

most other countries refused.

Bangladesh

Pakistan

India

Nigeria

Ethiopia

Nepal

Egypt

Jordan

Ghana

0

10

20

30

40

50

24.14

15.98

6.28

43.2

23.3

44.22

8.36000000000001

32.8

23.04

Table 4: Average Number of Troops Contribution Per 1000 Active Military Personnel of Selected Countries : 2008-2013

Source: Consolidated from Data on “Total Active Military Personnel by Country”, available at: http://www.globalfirepower.com/active-military-manpower.asp / and UNPKO Year in Reviews (opcit)

4.2 Equally important is Bangladesh’s niche advantage in

contributing air assets, (see Table 5) crucial to maintainKi-moon, 14 November 2011. Available at:http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID=1375#.U6iCp_mSyK8/ (accessed on 18 Jun 2014).23 Kristian Herbolzheimer, “Muslim women in peace processes:Reflections for dialogue in Mindanao,” Discussion paper July 2011,Conciliation Resources, p.4

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high level of flexibility and mobility to meet the

multidimensional tasks of UNPKO.24 The importance is capture in the

words of Roger Meece, the U.N. special representative in Congo who

remarked at the UNSC following the withdrawn of Indian Attack

Helicopters: “I am obliged to note that [the UNs’] military

operations are being negatively impacted by the shortage of

helicopters UN mission in Congo” and warned that “this problem will

become worse absent new contributions.”25 Bangladesh Air Force (BAF)

is the leading military helicopter force contributor in UNPKO

(see table 5) generating around 3000 flying hours per year.26

BAF’s professional and safety excellence to match the UN

requirements27 ranks her amongst the selected few and an

24 See Richard Gowan and Megan Gleason, UN Peacekeeping: The Next Five Years.Available at:http://cic.es.its.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/cic_un_fiveyears.pdf /; Also see CIC and GPOI (2011) Assessment of Helicopter Force GenerationChallenges for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Study, Workshop, andConsultations Report , Center on International Cooperation (CIC)and US Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), December 2011Available at:http://usun.state.gov/documents/organization/179150.pdf/ ( Bothaccessed on 11 Jun 2014).25 See Colum Lynch (2011), “India’s withdrawal of helicopters fromCongo points to wider trend”, The Washington Post, June 14, 201. Alsonote that deployment of an UNMISS battalion in Jonglei State in 2011in response to warnings of violence between ethnic groups washampered by a lack of helicopters to transport troops. Richard Gowanand Megan Gleason (2007), Opcit, p.2426 Director of Plans, BAF, Air Commodore M Nazrul Islam, Air Headquarters, Dhaka, 22 Jun 2014.27 The current requirement for flight captain is a minimum of 1000total flight hours + no fewer than 250 flight hours in the specificaircraft. See CIC and GPOI (2011) Opcit, p.13

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important force multiplier to enhance UN capacity. BAF also

provides professional technicians, airfield support units, air

liaison etc to sustain and conduct air operations in difficult

and diverse terrain in mission areas serving not just the

Bangladeshi peacekeepers but also other nations.

111

10

11

12

8655 4 4 2222

Table 5: Heli Contributing Countries in UNPKO: 2014Commercial IndiaUkraineBangladeshRussiaPakistanArgentinaEthiopiaChileItalyGhanaSouth AfricaSpainUruguay

Source: CIC and GPOI (2011), Colum Lynch (2011), Director of Plans, BAF (2014) Note: India has withdrawn its attack helicopters from Congo.

4.3 Beyond the numbers and matrixes, Bangladesh’s

participation in the UNPKO is also marked by the unmatched

human and impartial tone and tenor of her peacekeepers.

Embedded in sound moral and religious values, professional

excellence reinforced through experience of pacification

missions in CHT and training in military institutes including

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BIPSOT, Bangladeshi peacekeepers remains more acceptable in

the ‘harshest climates and the most difficult environments.’28

Bangladesh also maintains a zero tolerance policy towards

sexual exploitation and abuse in any form and allegations

against Bangladeshi peacekeepers is extremely low if not nil

amidst an already overall declining trend of such cases.29

Bangladeshi peacekeepers have demonstrated a caring attitude

towards the local people and their culture and Bengali

language has been recognized in Sierra Leone. Many Bangladeshi

peacekeeping battalions have undertaken laudable community

development activities including providing free basic medical

services to achieve sustainable peace – a reflection of soft

power potentials of the country.

5. Operationalizing Bangladesh’s Soft Power Potentials

28 See Ban Ki-moon, (2011), opcit and Kabir, (2013), who observes:“Bangladesh cautiously avoids sending troops into conflictenvironments where they might look like aggressors.” opcit. 29While the overall trend of sexual abuse by UN personnel isdeclining (112 in 2009 and 66 in 2013), the year-on-year allegationhas slightly increase. Out of the 66 allegations received in 2013,majority (42) were against a deployed troops + police strength ofover 99000 in different UN missions. See for details, “Specialmeasures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse:Report of the Secretary-General” in the Sixty-eighth session of UNGeneral Assembly, 14 Feb 2014. Available at:http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/68/756/ (accessed25 Jun 2014).

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5.1 So how can Bangladesh operationalize her soft power

potentials accrued through the continued participation in

UNPKO? In terms of ‘framing the agenda’-- the first step of

operationalizing the concept, Bangladesh is already on track

as the pioneering member of the UN Culture of Peace resolution

adopted in the 52nd session of the General Assembly in 199730

proclaiming the year 2000 as “International Year for Culture

of Peace.” The agenda was bolstered by successive resolutions

– again pioneered by Bangladesh, that resulted in declaring

2001-2010 as the “International Decade of Culture of Peace and

Non Violence for the Children of the World”.31 In his follow up

report at the Plenary Meeting of the 67th session,

Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN reiterated

that “promoting a culture of peace has become more urgent than

ever before,” urging for the enthusiastic support of all

stakeholders, individuals and civil society.32 Such initiative

30 See UN Document A/52/191 dated 5 Aug 1997 and resolution 52/15, dated 20 Nov 1997.31 See http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/56/5&Lang=E/ (Accessed 23 Jun 2014).32 See speech by H.E. Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen, Ambassador and PermanentRepresentative of Bangladesh to the UN intruding the resolutionA/67/L.46 entitled “Follow-Up to the Declaration and Programme ofAction on a Culture of Peace” at The Plenary Meeting of the 67thsession of the United Nations General Assembly on Culture of Peace(Agenda item 15) New York, 17 December 2012.

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to frame the culture of peace agenda bodes well with our

participation in UNPKO and needs to be strategized linking

broader national objectives to strengthen and enlighten Armed

Forces role and mind-set towards democracy, human rights,

civil-military relation, gender issues that would transform

Bangladesh military as a role model attracting and inspiring

others to emulate.

5.2 The ‘Culture of Peace’ owes its origin to the UNESCO

constitution that states, “Since war begins in the minds of

men, it is the minds of men that the defence of peace must be

constructed.” Thus, the next logical step for operationalizing

the concept is knowledge creation that can influence the minds.

Indeed, Bangladesh being blessed with two soft power icons --

a rotary peace prize winner Prime Minister, credited for

concluding the CHT Peace Treaty- the triumph of liberal peace

building model, and another Nobel peace laureate, is a fertile

ground for knowledge creation on peacekeeping and peace

building of global standard. Establishment of university of

peace studies, civil society organization and think tanks in

addition to the existing entities33 could be an important step

33 Current entities include Dept. of Peace Studies in the University of Dhaka, a civil society organization Bangladesh

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towards such knowledge creation. Bangladesh as one of the co-

sponsors of the UNGA resolution of University of Peace34 is

rightly situated to establish such University. Leveraging the

extensive experience of peacekeepers, such University would

produce not only enlightened peace studies graduates and

mediators of global standard but also researchers outlining

peace plans and roadmaps addressing the enduring conflicts

that engulfs today’s world adding to country’s reputation.

5.3 At the regional level, operationalizing country’s soft power

potentials remains chocked by the lack of formal and informal

structures. South Asian peacekeepers make almost 33 per cent

of the total PKO force. Despite numerous unresolved bi-lateral

issues, Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving alongside other south

Asian members develop a healthy camaraderie and networking at

the personal levels and often carry it forward for life. To

graduate this relationship at the bi-lateral levels, both

track 1 and track 1.5 measure like establishing forums for

‘South Asian Peacekeepers’ under the SAARC, introducing a

Institute of Peace and Security Studies etc.

34 See UN Resolution A/RES/56/2 dated 30 October 2001 and A/56/PV.29Proceedings of 29th plenary meeting of 56th General Assembly session,22 October 2001, p. 3.

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culture of expressing formal condolences in case of fatalities

of any south Asian peacekeeper, seminars, exchanges program

during events like UN Peacekeepers day, International Day of

Peace etc. and connecting the group through social media may

be encouraged and institutionalized. All such efforts would go

a long way in the discursive construction of Bangladesh as a

peace promoter.

5.4 A more robust and integrated reflection of Bangladesh’s

involvement in UNPKO in the public diplomacy realm and active

engagement by our diplomatic missions in the regions where our

peacekeepers are deployed, could be an important catalyst in

galvanizing the government and nongovernmental agencies to

remain engaged in the conflict affected countries ensuring

lasting relationship. Different periodic publications,

painting, and events organized by the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs (MOFA) and AFD may feature the life and achievements

of Bangladeshi peacekeepers and need not to be limited to

particular days of the year. Many Bangladeshi NGOs and

business firms are now operating abroad. The positive image

created by the peacekeepers could be a great asset for these

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entities to open their operation in such countries. MOFA’s

recent efforts to setup 18 new missions and sub-mission

especially in Africa and Latin America and appointing 28 new

Honourary Consuls35 is a right step forward but needs to

expand to include countries where Bangladeshi peacekeepers are

deployed. Such an active public diplomacy and inter-agency

cooperation could help in framing a ‘Bangladeshi model of

peacekeeping’ – the next agenda, attracting others.

5.5 Finally, the uncontroversial acceptance of Bangladesh’s

participation in UNPKO amidst factionalized domestic politics

beacons a ray of hope for consolidating national unity and

progress. Such a bipartisan issue also enjoys wide support and

recognition from the citizens, opinion holders and civil

society activists in Bangladesh, not only because it brings

positive image but also for the fact that it strengthens

democratic norms and practices by ensuring civilian control

over military. The democratic polity of Bangladesh view that

their military is engaged in a worthy cause in UNPKO boosting

Bangladesh’s international standing. Such an understanding and

35 A Four and Half Year Overview of the Foreign Office Activities Jan 2009 – Sep 2013, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh, p.17.

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support from the citizenry, political elites and the civil

society can strengthen national cohesion adding to the

domestic dimension of soft power – that can be carried forward

to have transcending effects.

6. Concluding Remarks

6.1 Soft power of a state is the ‘capacity’ to attract and

persuade and should not be viewed as a ‘commodity’. In a

networked world, enhancing soft power potentials of a country

is not a remit of only the ministry of foreign affairs or

National Security Council but also rests on informed

individuals, opinion holders, institutions and icons. Military

power may not be a sine qua non of soft power, but when used for

peaceful purposes, it can produce and enhance the soft power

of any country through its fungible nature. Bangladeshi

peacekeepers operating under UN blue helmet form an important

element in our quest for soft power. Indeed as Professor Cox in

his oral evidence to the UK’s House of Lord’s Committee on ‘Soft

Power and the UK’s Influence’ noted: “If your soldiers misbehave

overseas, that will weaken your soft power. If your soldiers behave

well overseas, that will strengthen your soft power.”36 Individually

36 Op cit, p.295.

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the peacekeepers reflect the professionalism, discipline,

higher values, culture and ethics of our Armed Forces and

collectively they represent the country’s global identity as a

peace promoter, peace builder and peace maker. It is also an

important expression of Bangladesh’s national leadership,

political culture, and domestic identity. It is imperative that

we harness all the vehicles of strengthening our soft power

--- including the participation in UNPKO by our Armed Forces

in a more synthesized and coordinated way to shape and present

our story to the world.

About the AuthorMohammad Zahidul Islam Khan is a Group Captain in Bangladesh Air Force and a Chevening Scholar. He is a distinguished graduated of the University of Bradford, UK (Conflict Security and Development), Air University,U.S.A. (Military Operational Art and Science), Defence Services Command and Staff College, Bangladesh (DefenceStudies) and the University of Dhaka (MBA, Banking). Hehas served in various command staff and instructional

appoints including a tenure as faculty member of the Defence Services Command and Staff College. Currently he is commanding an Air Force Unit. Hecan be reached at [email protected].

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BANGLADESH IN UNITED NATIONS PEACE KEEPING OPERATIONS: EXPLORING THE ‘SOFT POWER’ DIMENSION

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