Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies
Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) a statutory institution established at Dhaka in 1978 under the administrative control of the ministry of foreign affairs, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. It undertakes research and deliberates on international affairs, security and developmental issues. The institute also contributes to advancing knowledge and understanding of contemporary international and strategic issues from national and regional perspectives.
The general guidance and superintendence of the affairs of the institute vest in a board of governors headed by a chairman. The board consists of representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs, defense and finance, the three armed services, academics and professionals. The director general is the member secretary of the board and chief executive of the institute. The activities of the institute are funded mainly by annual grants-in-aid from the government of Bangladesh. A limited fund is also generated from sale proceeds of publications and funded projects. The institute is entitled to receive grants and endowments from funding agencies and philanthropic organisations.
The main activities of the institute are carried out by its research faculty, consisting of full-time researchers who come from varied backgrounds, work in the four divisions of the institute, and carry out studies on international affairs, strategic issues, democracy and governance, and economics and environment. The institute is autonomous and formulates its own research policies and agenda. It has some priority areas of research. These include foreign policy, security and strategic issues, regional, inter-regional and international co-operation, politics, development and inter-state relations, environment, resources and sustainable development, peace and conflict studies, and area studies.
While the research activities of the institute cover the issues related to the fields mentioned above in the global context, it pays special attention to South Asian issues. The focus, of course, is on regional and international issues, which have specific relevance to Bangladesh. The relationship of the country with its development partners also receives significant attention.
Every year, BIISS holds seminars, conferences and workshops on issues of topical and national interests. It hosts visiting scholars and eminent personalities from home and abroad, and provides a forum for talks, lectures and discussion sessions. Its seminars/workshops/conferences are open to the public, and are attended by academics, scholars, policy makers and journalists, and non-government organisations.
BIISS has established institutional linkages with a number of academic and research institutions in South Asia and around the globe. Such linkages involve exchange of publications, reciprocal granting of research facilities to visiting scholars, co-sponsoring of seminars, joint research, exchange of scholars, and short-term mutual visits.
The institute publishes the BIISS Journal and the Bangladesh Foreign Policy Survey. These journals have been published regularly since 1980. In addition, the institute publishes a monograph series, titled BIISS Papers. The other major dissemination service comes in the form of a Regional Press Digest (RPD) on Nuclear Issue in South Asia. The institute also publishes seminar proceedings and outputs of other research projects in book form.
The Library and Documentation Centre of the institute has a collection of over 5,000 books, 150 internationally reputed journals, 2,00 documents, nearly 50 newspapers and magazines, and clippings facility for about 150 relevant subjects. [AKM Abdus Sabur]
