a truly global examination of the emergence of bangladesh. starting with the status of south asian relations post-partition, such as following the tashkent agreement, raghavan details the various international parties and interactions that led to the eventual separation of east and west pakistan. raghavan dismisses the argument that this separation was inevitable, and instead posits the idea that the creation of bangladesh occurred as a result of a chain of events unforeseen from the beginning. he highlights the tension between international states following the cold war, and the way their conflicting interests over pakistan aggravated such tensions. with the united states determined to secure a communicative route to china via pakistan, india relied on soviet support to press pakistan for a political change that allowed the repatriation of the refugees inundating the nation. embroiled in the effects of globalisation, facilitating widespread publicity of the genocide of bengalis, this conflict triggered a series of treaties, UN decisions, and further international disputes that eventually resulted in pakistan's unconditional surrender on december 16th 1971.

while i enjoyed raghavan's analysis, i have to wonder if the emphasis given to india's influence overshadows the domestic actions within bangladesh that may have played a role in the emergence of the state. bangladesh is framed as a somewhat passive participant in its own independence, which is something i cannot comment on as i have not read much around this subject as of yet. notwithstanding my appreciation of the global outlook of the separation, i would have been interested to read more about particular movements native to bengalis.