Youth Leadership in Diplomacy for Bangladesh: Toward A Sustainable Global Future

Abstract

The twenty-first-century geopolitical environment is also more marked by the activism of the youth in the Global South as the formulation of national and international policies becomes a matter of centre-stage actors and not peripheral ones. This revolution has reached a historical peak in Bangladesh after the July Revolution of 2024, which was an epochal "Monsoon Revolution" by students that essentially ousted an authoritarian regime that had become entrenched in Bangladesh over many years and revitalised the legacy of resistance. In this research paper, the posture of youth leadership in diplomacy in Bangladesh is discussed based on the fact that the institutionalisation of the youth demographic serving 33% of the population is a critical concern in attaining a sustainable global future. The mixed-method approach which combines quantitative data collected through surveys on 2,545 individuals and takes the form of qualitative thematic analysis of new policy changes offers an insight into the process of replacing informal activism with formal diplomatic representation. The results indicate that there is a big reluctance gap with 95% of the youth feeling that traditional politics is risky; and 94% willing to take the lead in climate and social action, were they offered institutional backing. The report evaluates the current frameworks, including the UN Youth Delegate Program, the UNESCO Youth Voice Mechanism, and the BIMSTEC Young Leaders Summit, as a means of finding ways of integrating further. The discussion provides a conclusion that Bangladesh can reinvent itself as a regional beacon of justice and democratic developments by utilising the three Zeros framework proposed by Dr. Muhammad Yunus as follows: zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero net carbon. This paper gives policy suggestions to the policy makers on how to go beyond mere symbolic inclusion into meaningful youth-led diplomacy.