03/02/2026, 10:30 - 12:00, Essen
Bangladesh has been involved in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKOs) for nearly four decades. Over the years it has emerged a top troop-contributing country and has earned a name for itself in peacekeeping operations. Participation in peacekeeping operations also implied engagement with peacekeeping norms including respect for democratic rule, balanced civil-military relations, and gender mainstreaming. Adherence to these norms by peacekeepers is central to regulating the conduct of peacekeepers on the ground, making UN peacekeeping compliant with UN resolutions, enhancing the legitimacy of peacekeeping, and even increasing its effectiveness in protecting civilians and maintaining peace. By looking at Bangladesh Armed Forces’ trajectory over the past five decades – in an era where UN peacekeeping faces questions about its efficacy and is in a decline – Rashed Uz Zaman discusses to what extent such norms have shaped the country’s armed forces and what this means for the foreign policy of Bangladesh.
The event is organised by Dr Rashed Uz Zaman (University of Dhaka, Bangladesh), who is currently a Senior Fellow at the College for Social Sciences and Humanities, and Dennis Dijkzeul (Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), Ruhr University Bochum).
No reqistration required.
College for Social Sciences and Humanities, Essen
Dr Rashed Uz Zaman
University of Dhaka (Bangladesh) | International Relations
Rashed Uz Zaman has been a lecturer and researcher at the Department of International Relations of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, since 1998. He holds a PhD in strategic studies from the University of Reading, UK. He was an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Erfurt, Germany (2009–2011) and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt University, USA, in 2012.
Rashed Uz Zaman works on strategic and international security issues and, in recent years, on civil-military relations in Bangladesh. Latest publications include an article titled ‘Defence Diplomacy and Civil-Military Relations in Bangladesh’ in the Journal of Political & Military Sociology (2024) and a chapter on ‘Defence Diplomacy and Civil-Military Relations: The Case of Bangladesh’ in the volume Asian Military Evolutions: Civil Military Relations in Asia (2023).
Rashed Uz Zaman speaks regularly at various international and national educational, defence and administrative institutions including the Defence Services Command & Staff College (DSCSC), the National Defence College (NDC), Bangladesh, the Tribhuvan University, Nepal, the National Defence College, Sri Lanka, the Foreign Service Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh, and the Public Administration Training Center (BPATC) and Police Staff College, Bangladesh.
Prof. Dennis Dijkzeul
Ruhr University Bochum, Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) | Conflict and Organisation Research
E-mail: dennis.dijkzeul@rub.de