Belarus Brief

For more than thirteen years Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the enigmatic leader of Belarus has been able to surprise everyone whilst in reality, changing little. Making use of popular interest in romantic notions of a “last dictatorship” or the last true outpost of the Soviet Union, Lukashenka has been able to capitalize on Belarus’ geopolitical position during these past years. Meanwhile, he deals with blackmail and keeps no gentlemen’s agreements in his attempts to reverse any Western conditionality.