Belarus 1991-2011: Triumph or Tragedy? An Assesment

The overall balance of the two decades of the independent Republic of Belarus is far from impressive. The fact that the country retains its own statehood is a success in itself. Perhaps owing to personal ambitions of the Russian and Belarusian leaders or maybe as a result of their inadequacy in implementing integration projects involving the two countries, Belarus remains a separate political entity. At the same time, a long lasting period of Lukashenko’s rule has manifested the weakness of the opposition. It lacks solidarity, has no common strategy to follow at the decisive moments and is thus easily defeated by the President. The analysis is carried out on the basis of political science and is aimed at a diagnosis of Belarus's degree of identification with its subjectivity and independence in the spirit of critical geopolitics.