Geographical Position: Blessing or Curse? It can be said that Belarus is equally blessed and cursed by its geographical location. On one hand, it is positioned between Russian Federation and the Western Europe and can potentially serve as a window of opportunity because Belarus is the direct and closest bridge for Russian energy exports into [...]

Read the introduction here. In the last ten years, Belarusian economy fueled with cheap Russian energy experienced high growth rates; however, such rapid economic development parallels a process of a close political alliance with Russia and potentially might threaten Belarusian sovereignty. In order to fully understand events and factors that led Belarus to such position, [...]

On December 8, 1991, Boris Yeltsin, Stanislav Shushkevich and Leonid Kravchuk, the leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, signed the Belavezha agreement which effectively dissolved the Soviet Union. As a result of this colossal event, Belarus, just like other former Soviet republics, not only acquired independence but also faced a crucial survival test. The republic [...]