August 2005 saw the overt manifestation of large scale violence in Bangladesh, something that the international community was anxiously expecting. It came in the form of terrorism. The months since then have seen the country battle with this phenomenon and achieve some success particularly with the capture of the masterminds that orchestrated these attacks. Insecurity was compounded by the unstable political scenario. With national elections scheduled for January 2007, the issue of caretaker government and reforms was once again brought to the fore. Terrorism provided both major political parties the opportunity to trade allegations of incompetence and complicity to gain public support in the upcoming elections.

While the domestic situation was precarious, external relations with important neighbours and major powers improved marginally. Bilateral exchanges with India, Pakistan and China were conducted while anti-terror cooperation with the US and UK have apparently been enhanced. With the arrests of the JMB leaders, a certain pause may have been achieved in this war, but several questions remain. Will this stability last? Would follow up legal and security forces actions lead to a dismantling of terrorist infrastructure? Would substantial political and social reforms be instituted to return Bangladesh in to a moderate Islamic state?

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