Europe's Last Dictatorship - U.S. Democratization Efforts in Belarus (ePub)

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject Politics - Miscellaneous, grade: 2,0, Durham University, language: English, abstract: [...] Since its official establishment in 1991, Belarus has struggled with the implementation of
democratic policies. The republic is a nominal democracy and was pursuing liberal reforms after
gaining independence, however, since his election in 1994, its current president Alyaksandar
Lukashenka, was repeatedly able to expand his almost autocratic powers. The fact that most other
countries in Eastern Europe have democratized more or less like textbook examples makes
Belarus' autocracy a true exception. In this paper, the question will be answered why
democratization has so far failed in post-communist Belarus.
To answer this question thoroughly, it is indispensable to portrait the pre-transitional
history and political climate in communist Belarus (section 2.), as well as the actual transition
process starting in 1989 (section 3.). The research then turns to the question of how and to what
extent external actors, especially the U.S. and Europe, engaged in democratization efforts
(section 4.). Eventually, the analysis of external and internal factors will answer the central
question of why democracy failed in Belarus (section 5.). It will be determined whether
international efforts have been made effectively and correctly, and also, which domestic factors
averted a move towards democracy. The results found in this research indicate that international
actors failed to recognize Belarus' exceptionalism among democratizing Eastern European
countries and therefore virtually missed the crucial period in which democratization was still a
political possibility for Belarus. Most importantly, however, internal factors were most
significant in the authoritarian development of Belarus. Weak traditions of democracy, statehood, and national identity made and continue to make the Belarusian people an easy target for
dictatorial rule.
The evaluation of the transitional process in Belarus will be based on primary sources such
as official documents published by U.S. and European government authorities. Furthermore,
press releases, scientific journal articles, news articles, and information from book chapters will
complete the picture.