Bangladesh, June 18 -- The recent cycle of unrest and polarised debate in the United Kingdom highlights a broader challenge faced by many liberal democracies: maintaining social cohesion in an environment where rapid information flows, economic uncertainty, and contested migration politics intersect. Episodes of street violence, often triggered by highly charged criminal incidents, are increasingly followed by waves of protest, counter-protest, and online escalation. While these events are sometimes framed in simplified narratives-whether as expressions of public anger, failures of policing, or symptoms of immigration policy-they are better understood as the product of multiple reinforcing pressures within society.

In a number of recent...