”Sheikh Hasina ruled this country of 171m people for 20 of the past 28 years, mostly with an iron fist. Her political longevity relied on tacit backing from the army and on increasing oppression. An election in January returning her to power for the fifth time confirmed the country’s descent into a one-party state, with widespread rigging by her Awami League (AL) party and a boycott by the main opposition party. She combined strong-woman politics with impressive economic results: in the decade before covid-19 the country’s economy grew at 7% annually, buoyed by its garment industry and despite rampant cronyism. Bangladesh’s iron lady bolstered her rule by securing the backing of India, its powerful neighbour, while maintaining cordial relations with China, its main arms supplier. The West showed little interest in penalising her even as she abandoned democratic norms.