Last month, three Russian warships docked at Chattogram port for three days. According to Russian state media, it was the first such visit in nearly 50 years. Russian naval officers held meetings with their Bangladesh counterparts, and they participated in joint exercises.

This episode underscores how Bangladesh has become a prime battleground for great power competition. With so much attention focused on Bangladesh's upcoming election, it's easy to overlook the growing challenges that nonaligned Dhaka will confront in navigating sharpening geopolitical rivalry—regardless of the election outcome.

The story of the Russian warships far predates their arrival in Chattogram. Nearly a year ago, following US pressure, Dhaka refused to grant entry to a Russian ship bearing parts for a nuclear power plant because it was under US sanctions. Soon thereafter, Dhaka announced bans on 69 additional Russian commercial vessels under US sanctions, preventing them from entering Bangladesh.

Against this backdrop, Dhaka's hosting of the Russian warships should be seen as a balancing tactic that one would expect from a nonaligned state: after making those earlier concessions to Washington on Russia, Dhaka pivoted to reassert its longstanding friendship with Moscow. Dhaka's decision should pay off: Beijing likely welcomes its Russian friend projecting power in a maritime space where China is increasingly present. And New Delhi, an even closer friend of Moscow's, will hope Russia's show of strength can help balance out Chinese naval power in the Indian Ocean, making it less of a threat to New Delhi—so long as it doesn't lead to formal China-Russia naval partnership in the region.

Yet, balancing relations with these powers won't always be so easy. Indeed, it's becoming increasingly difficult to manage geopolitical competition. Unlike during the Cold War, it's not a bipolar world. Increasing multipolarity has created more space for the emergence of multiple competitive actors and theatres. But multilateralism, and broader global cooperation, aren't robust enough to push back on all these proliferating poles of competition and contestation.