Background
Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) is the first institution of its kind in Bangladesh for informed analysis on all aspects of broad spectrum of security, peace and security studies in the region as well as of the global. It will serve as a critical space for reflection, a forum for research, training, exchanges and dialogue between practitioners, academics and activists at all levels. The view that growth and development cannot be realized without a secure and stable environment in which every citizen is a stakeholder, able to participate fully in the processes that govern his or her life is rapidly gaining ground in many parts of South Asia. Previously, discourse on peace and security was considered the sole preserve of the military, and not civilians. And security was seen largely in the narrow sense of defending a state from threat external to that state. The conflicts, insecurity, human misery and slow pace of development across South Asia, which resulted partly from decades of social exclusion, gross human rights violations and poor governance have compelled new thinking on what security is all about. A state is secure when its people are truly free from fear and anxiety and are able to agree with their rulers and fellow citizens the terms under which they would live in harmony with one another. But this view must not only become well embedded in the thinking of every people in South Asia, it must become a practical reality.
No effort to achieve peace and security and to strengthen governance, particularly in the security sector, will succeed without the commitment and active participation of the national stakeholders: the executive, the legislature, the security forces, political and civil society. Additionally, the shape that the transformation process takes in any given country will reflect its history, its domestic and international context, and its national goals. It is therefore critical that local needs determine the shape and pace of reform processes. But, the active participation of local stakeholders can only be realized if there is a shared understanding and knowledge of all aspects of peace and security issues among them.
At this moment there is no such dedicated Institute is available neither in Bangladesh nor in South Asia to address the above mentioned issues. In this context it is extremely beneficial to organize a dedicated think-tank based in Bangladesh with the linkage of regional and international think-tanks to address the above issues.
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