Executive Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a serious global health risk. Bangladesh is no exception. Since SARSCOV-2 began spreading across the world, many analysts have contemplated its impact – would it simply accelerate existing trends, or would it prove to be a geopolitical ‘game-changer’ creating a world completely different than before? The answer is much more complicated than ‘either-or’ – the world during and aŌer COVID-19 will have components of both, the old and the new, the known and the unknown. As the fourth largest Muslim country in the world, and third in the region, Bangladesh has significant geopolitical importance, particularly given its proximity to China and its location within India’s ‘geostrategic frontier.’ Bangladesh already faces major challenges in national security, economic development, energy security, and military expansion. Since Bangladesh possesses significant geopolitical importance among South Asian countries, it should take the initiative to create new regional plaƞorms free from the influence of regional powers. Europe and America should recognize the geo-strategic importance of Bangladesh.