This book is a result of wide ranging academic collaboration between two scholars of two neighbouring countries -Bangladesh and India. Significantly, their ideas and interests have covered on important topics such as nationalism, colonialism, civil-military relations and challenges of good governance. The authors have largely dealt with four countries -Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Thailand. Various issues like relations between the people, politicians and administrators have occupied a predominant place in this book. Dysfunctionalities of public administration have repeatedly come to the forefront. In this perspective, the solitary essay on Thailand gains great importance because it reveals similarities not only between south and south-east Asian countries and the United States. It is to the credit of these two authors that, unlike most academics, they have not merely underlined the deficiencies in public administration, but also have been bold enough to suggest possible solutions. It is further to their credit that the papers -published elsewhere from 1973 to 2003 -have stood the test of time, simultaneously preserving the flavour of bygone decades.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jayanta Kumar Ray
Dr. Jayanta Kumar Ray is the Founder President of South Asia Research Society, a non-profit non-government organization, which conducts projects ranging from rural poverty alleviation to law enforcement reform. Some of his previous assignments were: Centenary Professor of International Relations and Director, Centre for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Calcutta; professor of Behavioural Sciences, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. He is currently a Member, Peace Studies Group, Calcutta University, and an Editorial Fellow at the Centre for Studies in civilizations, New Delhi. He is the author of a number of important publications on a variety of themes, e.g. national security, public bureaucracy, foreign policy, internal colonialism, and civil-military relations in post-colonial societies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Muntassir Mamoon
Dr. Muntassir Mamoon (b. 1951), a founder member of Bangladesh Lekhak Shibir and Bangladesh Lekhak Union, a participant in all secular-democratic movements in Bangladesh since 1969, is currently a professor in the department of History, University of Dhaka. A promoter of Bangabandhu Museum and Dhaka City Museum, Muntassir Mammon is one of the most popular and respected authors of Bangladesh. He has also been honoured with the Dr. Hilali Gold Medal and the president's Award. This is the third book co-authored by these two scholars. The others are: Inside Bureaucracy: Bangladesh and Civil Society in Bangladesh: Resilience and Retreat.
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