For years, Bangladesh has presented a paradox to outsiders. The small, densely packed South Asian nation is among the world’s poorest. It is often ranked as one of the world’s most corrupt places. Its political system has repeatedly been jolted by instability. And its territory is deeply vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

And yet, throughout all this, Bangladesh has also been a source of positive news. As an April assessment by World Bank economists put it, “by any standards, [the] Bangladesh economy has done well,” with economic growth exceeding 6%. In fact, as an International Monetary Fund reportfrom earlier this year noted, the economy has been “strong and largely” stable since the mid-1990s. A key driver has been the country’s $26 billion garment industry, which accounts for around 80% of its exports. As the economy grew, the number of Bangladeshis in living in poverty fell and social indicators improved, with the government putting money into initiatives to empower women and improve food security.

Growth has continued to be firm in recent years, even as a dangerous new challenge to the Muslim-majority nation became increasingly apparent — the threat from extremist violence. Beginning around 2013, a bloody campaign of targeted killings steadily picked off writers and activists critical of Islam, along with members of the country’s religious minorities. In many cases, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) sought to take credit for the attacks. But the government of Sheikh Hasina time and again played down the threat from transnational terrorist groups. Instead, it blamed homegrown radicals and extremists linked to the political opposition, which historically has had close links with right-wing Islamists. Security analysts have been concerned about the situation in Bangladesh for months now, but the targeted nature of the killings and the government’s stand that it was dealing with an internal problem have largely kept the issue out of the global spotlight.

The tragic attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant on July 1 changed that, marking a gruesome escalation in the extremist threat. Located in the upscale Dhaka district of Gulshan, home to wealthy Bangladeshis, expats and foreign embassies, it was carefully chosen for its international clientele.Twenty hostages were brutally murdered, most of them foreigners. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian national and a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, along with two Bangladeshis. Accounts from survivors confirm that the attackers sought out the foreigners, sparing most of the Bangladeshi’s trapped inside the restaurant.

Read more