Pragmatic Liberalism and President Obama: An Analysis of U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Bangladesh

This research seeks to examine the foreign policy of President Obama with special reference to Bangladesh from the point of pragmatic liberalism. Pragmatism means understanding the realities of the situation and making decisions based on thorough research of these realities. Pragmatism opposes strict adherence to ideological beliefs in pursuing foreign policy. President Obama came into power amid one of the most volatile and dangerous times in the history of the United States occupied with two foreign wars, and inherited an economy on the brink of collapse. The key features of Obama's pragmatic liberalism in foreign policy are to promote liberal ideas as long as it does not threaten the national security interests, emphasize diplomacy in solving the conflicts, foster humanitarian issues, develop alliances and multilateral agreements, uphold the major national interests, and strengthen national security defined in terms of economic well-being. The article will analyze U. S. foreign policy toward Bangladesh based on pragmatic liberalism of President Obama.