In 2020 Belarus made headlines around the world when protests erupted in the aftermath of a fraught presidential election. Andrew Wilson explores both Belarusâs complicated road to nationhood and its politics and economics since it gained independence in 1991. Two new chapters reveal the extent of Aliaksandr Lukashenkaâs grip on power, the growth of the opposition movement and the violent crackdown that followed the vote. Wilson also examines the prospects for Europe as a whole of either Lukashenkaâs downfall or his survival with Russian support.
âAndrew Wilson has done all students of European politics a great service by making the history of Belarus comprehensible and by showing how the future of Belarus might be different than its present.ââTimothy Snyder, author of Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin
Andrew Wilson is professor in Ukrainian studies at University College London and a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation and Ukraine Crisis: What It Means for the West.