BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

COMPREHENSIVE DEFENCE DIPLOMACY AND EFFICIENCY IN UN PEACEKEEPING: BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVE

Author: Shahriar Jabed Chowdhury

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2025v46n2a1

ABSTRACT

As one of the leading troop-contributing nations to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions, Bangladesh offers a unique opportunity to establish a comprehensive defence diplomacy framework to augment the efficiency and effectiveness of its commitments to peace support. This research posits how the absence of a comprehensive defence diplomacy framework affects Bangladesh’s efficiency in UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). This paper clarifies conceptual aspects of ‘defence diplomacy’, ‘Peacekeeping’ and their inter/intra connection to understand the whole spectrum of relations. It analyses existing challenges and limitations in the diplomatic mechanisms and frameworks of military cooperation, government approaches and institutional arrangements that affect Bangladesh’s efficiency in pursuing national interests to make the UNPKO sustainable. This qualitative research integrates secondary data sources with Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) to identify some important determinants of successful defence diplomacy and an integrated framework that can optimise Bangladesh’s peacekeeping contributions. The results will complement a theoretical account of defence diplomacy in peacekeeping operations and offer practical policy recommendations to build on Bangladesh’s role in global peacekeeping endeavours.