Secrecy, Secret Meetings, and National Security: Where They Intersect, Where Democratic Values are Neglected

This commentary by BIPSS Research Assistant , Nazmul Islam Mahmud, looks at the relationship between the two pillars of secrecy and national security in two completely different parts of the world: the Global North and the Global South. It is argued that although both worlds are engaged in democratic erosion, this erosion against the pillars of secrecy is very different in nature, source, and depth on both sides. They all share the same denominator; that is, the silent eviction of the citizen from the heart of democracy.