What is behind the political unrest in Belarus?
On August 9, 2020, Belarussian voters went to the polls in a presidential election. Long-time president Alexander Lukashenko who has governed the nation since 1994 and who is often called Europe’s last dictator claimed victory. Lukashenko announced he had won the election with a reported eighty-plus percent of the votes. This has been contested by both the Belarussian opposition and by most election observers. Since the election, the nation has been rocked by protests, while the government has violently cracked down on any unrest. What does this all mean for the future of the Lukashenko presidency? Doug Becker examines the history of Belarus and the fallout from the 2020 election with Margarita Balmaceda and Tatsiana Kulakevich.
Margarita Balmaceda is a Professor of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University. She is an expert in Russian and Eurasian Studies and is the author of Living the High Life in Minsk: Russian Energy Rents, Domestic Populism and Belarus' Impending Crisis.
Tatsiana Kulakevich is a Lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of South Flordia. Her research focuses on international political economy, migration, and ethnic politics.
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