Customer Reviews

Bangladesh 2000: On the Brink of Civil War

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The first half of this book reads as if the author spent most of his time hunkered down in a guest house in the more affluent part of Dhaka, reporting stories he read in the local English language press and what he ate for dinner. Later on, the book becomes more interesting as the reader experiences the author's growing realization that all in Bangladesh is not as it may seem to a visiting expatriate. The best parts are those describing the author's experiences travelling around Bangladesh giving courses for journalism students. The title seems overly incendiary given that the author, having spent only some months in Bangladesh, would not seem to be in a position to make such a dramatic prediction about political events there.

As a political memoir, Bangladesh 2000: on the Brink of Civil War is a good read. This is a part of the world that Americans have only limited access to. While it is common knowledge that Bangladesh is prone to natural disasters, the political situation in the country is less well known. The author, Paul Ryder Ryan, an experienced journalist, makes a good case for his conclusion that the poverty-stricken country is on the brink of civil war. Just the arrest of more than 50,000 "outlaws and terrorists" in the cause of law and order is a mindboggling fact. The number of diverse political forces in the country all pulling in opposite directions is also aptly demonstrated by Mr. Ryan, as is the increasingly volatile situation in general in South Asia, which includes India and Palistan their disputed territory of Kashmir.