Dhaka, Feb. 7 -- The topic is the holiest of all cows in a Bangladeshis mind but history has little to offer as evidence that "democracy" has made any difference in the life of Bangladesh. The country has many unique aspects including the fact that it fought a war to gain independence. This in contemporary history is rare except perhaps in the case of Kampuchea, now Cambodia. That is the by-product of a people's war.

A world of mixed models

Cambodia is going from strength to strength under single party rule as the war was led by the Communist Party. It doesn't believe in multi-party representative democracy underpinned by elections but that fact has not interfered with its broader objective of gaining socio - economic gains which for th...