Foreign policy defines a state's strategies for interacting with other nations and is vital for protecting national interests, economic prosperity, and maintaining international relationships. Bangladesh's foreign policy is influenced by its historical context and appears more as foreign relations due to political polarization. The country adheres to principles established in its constitution, emphasizing peace, security, and development, while its foreign policy has shifted towards engagement with Muslim countries, a 'Look East' approach, and embracing a closer relationship with India.

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Question 7: what is foreign policy? Discuss the importance and the stand of
Bangladesh about foreign policy.
Introduction
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle described humans as social animals, and
friendships and relations have existed between humans as long as humans have
existed. As organization developed in human affairs, relations between people also
became organized. Foreign policy thus goes back to primitive times. Foreign
Policy is defined as an extension of domestic policy for dealing with external
actors in order to pursue national interest of a country at the international level.
International system, regional setting, geopolitical compulsion, economic
interconnectedness and many other external factors play a vital role in shaping the
formulation of foreign policy.
Foreign policy
Generally we can say that foreign policy, also called foreign relations or foreign
affairs policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its
national interests and to achieve goals within its international relations milieu.
Foreign policy consists of the strategies it uses to protect its international and
domestic interests and determines the way it interacts with other state and non-state
actors.
[thoughtco.com/foreign-policy-definition-examples-4178057]
A foreign policy is a set of pre-established strategies designed and implemented
systematically to manage a country’s relationships with other nations.
Importance of foreign policy
The importance of foreign policy is accepted widely and it basically defines a
state’s approach towards the other states. Various importance of foreign policy are
given below:
1. Protect the territorial integrity of the country
A foreign policy should protect the territorial integrity of the country both within
and outside the country. Generally for this purpose the states prefer to follow

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policy of status quo. If a state pursues a policy which seeks to upset the status quo
it is branded as revisionist and arouses the suspicion of other members of the
international community.
2. Protect the interests of its citizens
It has to protect the interests of its citizens both inside and outside the state, for the
maintenance of its prestige.
3. Maintenance of links with other members of international community
Another importance of foreign policy is the maintenance of links with other
members of international community and adoption of policy of conflict or
cooperation towards them with a view to promote its own interests.
4. Promote national interests of the country
The foreign policy of a country seeks to promote its national interests of the
country. The primary interests of each state are preservation, security and well-
being of its citizens. Often, the interests of various states come in clash and the
states have their interests bearing in mind this factor.
5. Promote economic interests of the country
The foreign policy should aim at promotion of economic interests of the country.
As the status of a state is largely determined by its economic status, the states try to
pursue a foreign policy which can contribute to their economic prosperity and
enable it in turn to play a more effective role in international politics. Most of the
treaties and agreements concluded by the state with other members of international
community are essentially designed to protect and promote the economic interests
of these states.
6. Guides the diplomats in negotiations
Foreign policy is important because it determines the state of relationships between
countries and guides the diplomats in negotiations.
7. Determined the life and death of nations

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The life and death of nations can be determined by foreign policy there is nothing
more important that a nation’s government undertakes. Foreign policy errors have
lead to wars, trade wars, and other types of confrontations between nations.
Stand of Bangladesh about foreign policy
In modern times no state can avoid involvement in the international sphere. This
involvement must be systematic and based on some well-defined principles. The
principle and the purpose of a state are reflected in its foreign policy.
Critics often note that Bangladesh does not have a foreign policy rather than
foreign relations. Such views are supported by the evidence of frequent
transformations in foreign policy orientations caused by regime changes.
The Bangladesh Constitution sets forth some basic principles which clarify the
existence of Bangladesh foreign policy. Foreign policy suffers from political
polarization and partisan stance rather than objective analysis of national interest.
The Constitution lays down the basis of Bangladesh foreign policy in articles 25,
63 and 145(A).
Article 25 mentions the principle of promotion of international peace, security and
solidarity, article 63 talks about declaration of war and article 145(A) discusses the
code of international treaties.
In addition to this, there is an acceptance that Bangladesh foreign policy stands on
the principle of “friendship to all, malice to none”.
The objectives of Bangladesh foreign policy focus on the principles of national
security, peaceful coexistence and development. For a veteran diplomat,
Bangladesh has two broad foreign policy aspirations –
First, the search for its security and preservation of sovereignty, and
Second, the quest for resources for its development and economic welfare
Major Decisions of Bangladesh Foreign Policy
This section investigates three major decisions of Bangladesh during three regimes
that will help understand the role of domestic inputs and the shifting nature of

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Bangladesh foreign policy orientation. From the perspectives of the long term
influences of the decisions, significance in guiding foreign policy orientation and
the wide reach of policies at the international level, the three cases are viewed as
major decisions in Bangladesh foreign policy. Investigation of these will help
understand the actors and factors that are generally taken into consideration.
However, Houghton warns that “foreign policy decision making theory is not like
supermarket, where we simply drop into our grocery basket the things we like.”56
Therefore, the domestic political context and chronology of events need to be kept
in mind while analyzing the following case studies.
Case 1: Foreign Policy Shift towards Muslim Countries
Bangladeshis are not culturally as close to the Arabs, the Persians or the Turks as
the Pakistanis or the North Indians are, and the geopolitical reality of Bangladesh
does not necessitate her closeness with the Muslim world. Yet Bangladesh foreign
policy is significantly known for its intimacy with the Muslim countries. This is in
fact the product of a foreign policy shift consciously taken by the Bangladeshi
policymakers. The partition of Pakistan and the formation of independent
Bangladesh created a source of discord between the latter and the Muslim
countries in the Arab and the Middle East region.
Case 2: Tilt towards the East
The foreign policy orientation that caused much debates and discussions after
Khaleda Zia came in power after 2001 general elections was the policy of ’Look
East.’ It refers to developing enhanced trading and commercial relations with the
countries of East and Southeast Asia in an effort to reduce Bangladesh’s economic
dependence on India. It is very often said that as Bangladesh is no longer
constrained by any political ideology, whereas trade and economic collaboration
should be the guiding principle in expanding its foreign relations.
Case 3: India-positive Policy Approach
Bangladesh foreign policy’s gesture of closeness with India after the Awami
League-led grand alliance government came in power in 2009 is considered as a
new shift in foreign policy direction marked with much hypes. During this period,
Hasina initiated a radical departure in Dhaka’s approach towards New Delhi,

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adopting a very India-positive foreign policy orientation in order to build a long-
term, irreversible bilateral relationship
Conclusion
Foreign policy is very much crucial in this globe for any country or nations,
whether they want or not. This is important for many ways, we know that there
have no self reliable and self sufficient country or nation, Each and every nation
are interdependence, that is why, maintaining foreign policy is important,