One of the dangers of traveling in a small ship is the possibility of forceful swaying in rough waters. Belarus is a small ship, and it is supersensitive to the weather around it. From the west, the weather appears rather calm, as the international legitimacy... MORE

The presidents of Belarus and Russia, Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin, held a long bilateral summit in Sochi, on September 21. The countries’ prime ministers and key government members also took part in the meeting, which attracted significant media attention (Belta.by, September 21). Prior to... MORE

Russian military strategists who have analyzed regional military conflicts between 1999 and 2014 conclude that even a less-developed party may be able to at least partly degrade the technological advantage of a stronger adversary if the weaker power can attain information superiority over its opponent... MORE

Belarus has never lacked for individuals benefiting from either Eastern or Western support. Their actions, however, often left Belarusians disappointed. September 17 marked the 79th anniversary of the unification of Belarus. Part of the reason this day is not a national holiday is that unification... MORE

Three important books on Belarus released in the past two years shed new light on the complex debates over Belarusian identity. First, Alexander Nosovich, a political scientist with Belarusian roots but based in Kaliningrad, Russia, published the book Why Belarus Is Not a Baltic State... MORE

In late August, the Ukrainian magazine Tizhden published excerpts from a book by the former president of France, François Hollande, Les Leçons de Pouvoir (The Lessons of Power). The passages touch upon Hollande’s impressions of the night of February 11/12, 2015, which he spent in... MORE

Because interpreting news from Belarus has been challenging for outsiders, some verifiable background information about the country may prove useful. For example, for the eighth straight year, the former “last dictatorship of Europe” leads the world in the number of Schengen visas allotted per 1,000... MORE

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka canceled his planned trip to the city of Gomel and did not appear on TV for three days prior to July 30. This sudden absence encouraged the Russian Telegram instant messenger chat channel “Nezygar” to falsely report that Lukashenka suffered an... MORE

On July 24, the Belarusian government significantly increased the length of time that visitors from a list of 80 foreign countries could remain in Belarus visa-free. The period was extended from 5 to 30 days (Belta, July 24). The five-day timeframe was introduced in February... MORE

July 10 marked the 24th anniversary of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s tenure as the president of Belarus. Numerous publications reviewed the dynamics of the country’s basic indicators over that period and reflected on putative past and possible future alternatives to authoritarian rule there. Interestingly, the term “dictatorship,”... MORE