The State of Human Rights and Political Freedoms in Belarus: Was the Crisis Inevitable?

Kolarzik, Nina; Terzyan, Aram

doi:10.47669/psprp-4-2020

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The emphasis on continuity in foreign policy is consistent the Armenian revolution leader Nikol Pashinyan's leader. In contrast to their Georgian and Ukrainian counterparts Micheil Saakashvili's and Petro Poroshenko's emphasis on escaping post-Soviet geopolitical space and gaining centrality in the EU-driven socio-political order, the Belarusian opposition does not appear to pursue a 'game changing' agenda (Terzyan, 2020).…”

Section: International Factors: Explaining the Geopolitical Rationalementioning

confidence: 89%

“…Against this backdrop, the 2020 post-election unrest, including the unprecedented wave of protests that was met with massive state repression seemed to challenge the regime's survival. According to widely held beliefs, had the presidential elections been free and fair, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, former English teacher without any prior political experience would have been elected as President (Kolarzik and Terzyan, 2020). As a presidential candidate Tikhanovskaya mobilized a wide spectrum of the society, serving as the collective symbol of the Belarusian opposition (Specia, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Belarus in the Wake of a Revolution: Domestic and International Factors

2020

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This paper explores the political landscape of Belarus in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential elections, with a focus on both domestic and international factors behind the ongoing crisis. Lukashenko’s regime has a long record of sustaining its power by preserving elite unity, controlling elections, and/or using force against opponents. Therefore, massive fraud characterizing the 2020 presidential elections and brutal suppression of peaceful protests in its aftermath came as no surprise. Against this backdrop, the anti-government protests following the presidential elections raised a series of unanswered questions regarding both their domestic and foreign policy implications. The biggest question is whether the Belarusian civil society and opposition will prove powerful enough to overcome state repression and change the status quo in Europe’s “last dictatorship”. Worries remain about the Belarusian opposition’s emphasis on foreign policy continuity, meaning that Belarus is bound to remain in the orbit of the Russian authoritarian influence. The total fiasco of post-Velvet Revolution Armenian government both in terms of domestic and foreign policies, among others, further reveals the excruciating difficulties of a democratic statebuilding within the Russia-led socio-political order.

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Section: International Factors: Explaining the Geopolitical Rationalementioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belarus in the Wake of a Revolution: Domestic and International Factors

2020

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“…Finally, and more broadly, the encounters underscore the differing dynamics of authoritarian practices between Russia and Belarus on one side, and Ukraine on the other. People in both Russia and Belarus are experiencing an intensification of authoritarian and illiberal practices of late, with stolen elections, police crackdowns, the destruction of independent media, and mass arrests (Lipman 2016;Kolarzik and Terzyan 2020). In contrast, policy in Ukraine has moved towards democratic representation, government accountability, support for independent media, and something of a haven for Russian speakers escaping from Russia or Belarus (Motyl and Soltys 2019).…”

Section: Unpacking the Multiscalar Geopoliticalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between the Minor and the Intimate: Encountering the Authoritarian (Extra)ordinary in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine

Wolfe

2021

Geopolitics

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Introduction: encountering the multiscalar geopoliticalThere is an established and growing body of literature that endeavors to make sense of the geopolitical, writ large, from smaller scales. Drawing from feminist scholarship, this work seeks to ground geopolitical discourse into practice and place, making sense of how national and international scales are implicated in and indeed co-constructed by the everyday and the body (Dixon 2015;Dixon and Marston 2011;Dowler and Sharp 2001;Hyndman 2004). This work explores a geopolitics that transcends territory, category, and scale, and functions through

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“…As a result, the opposition has been weak and fragmented, with the ruling authorities exerting monopolistic control over civic activities. Moreover, it has not been uncommon for opposition activists to get harassed, threatened and arrested (Kolarzik and Terzyan, 2020).…”

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confidence: 99%

Post-Soviet Authoritarian Pathways: Insights from Kyrgyzstan and Belarus

Terzyan¹

2021

Self Cite

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This paper explores the similarities and differences between the post-Soviet regimes in the Rusian 'near neighborhood', focusing specifically on the cases of Kyrgyzstan and Belarus. Conventional wisdom suggests that faced with an imminent revolutionary threat, Russia consistently strives to fulfill its 'preventive counter-revolution' agenda in its neighborhood and beyond. While the 2005 and 2010 revolutions in Kyrgyzstan seemed to defy the Russian 'counter-revolution' policy, the country has not escaped the orbit of the Russian influence. The 2020 revolution reinforced the worst fears about Kyrgyzstan's inherently unstable political landscape. Clearly, successful, mass-based opposition to a ruling elite tends to serve as an example to discontented elements in other countries. The question as to whether Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian regime in Belarus is resilient

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The State of Human Rights and Political Freedoms in Belarus: Was the Crisis Inevitable?

Cited by 3 publications

References 3 publications

Belarus in the Wake of a Revolution: Domestic and International Factors

Belarus in the Wake of a Revolution: Domestic and International Factors

Between the Minor and the Intimate: Encountering the Authoritarian (Extra)ordinary in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine

Post-Soviet Authoritarian Pathways: Insights from Kyrgyzstan and Belarus

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