Bangladesh

Ali Riaz is a Distinguished Professor of political science at Illinois State University, USA. He currently also holds the Thomas E Eimermann Professorship. He was the chair of the Department of Politics and Government between 2007 and 2017. Riaz previously taught at universities in Bangladesh, England, and South Carolina, USA, worked as a Broadcast Journalist at the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) in London, and served as a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at Washington D.C.

"Compared with its South Asian country neighbours Bangladesh receives far less international attention politically than it should. Riaz's authoritative, analytically incisive and above all eadable account of Bangladesh's political history makes a substantial and scholarly contribution to addressing the gap. This will be essential reading for researchers, teachers, students, journalists and - dare I say it - politicians with an interest in Bangladesh and South Asia more widely." David Lewis, Professor of Social Policy and Development, LSE; "An excellent book, written by one of the most knowledgeable analysts of Bangladesh's contemporary history and politics. Analytically rigorous, theoretically sound and empirically rich, it contributes tremendously to our understanding of the political processes, institutions and actors in this young nation. It is a "must-read" for students of South Asian politics and comparative politics who are interested to learn about divergent trajectories of democracy, national identity-formation and the political role in this region of the world." Aurel Croissant, Professor of Political Science at the Institute of Political Science, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg