The episode was recorded on 20 October 2023 in cooperation with Ponto.

The state-sanctioned falsification of the 2020 presidential elections in Belarus triggered mass protests across the country, resulting in an
unprecedented crackdown by the police and the security apparatus on members of the opposition, protestors, civil society, and independent media. Since then, Belarus has remained largely isolated from the outside world, which was further exacerbated by the current regime’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In this episode, we discuss the nature of authoritarianism – or indeed, totalitarianism – in Belarus, the fate of Belarusians who joined the protests in 2020 and faced state repression as a result, and the role of media (both state-run and independent) in daily life in Belarus. We also speak about what an end to the Ukraine war would mean for Belarus and how Belarusian identity can be preserved despite the ongoing cultural assimilation efforts directed by Russia.

Guests:
Aliaksei Kazharski is a researcher and lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University (Czech Republic). He received his Ph.D. from Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia) in 2015. Kazharski’s research interests have included Central and Eastern Europe, regionalism, identity in international relations, critical approaches to security and terrorism studies. He is the author of two monographs: Eurasian Integration and the Russian World. Regionalism as an Identitary Enterprise (2019) and Central Europe Thirty Years after the Fall of Communism. A Return to the Margin? (International Studies Association Global International Section’s 2022 Book Award). Scopus Author ID: 57188974382 ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9782-7746

Artyom Shraibman is a Belarusian political analyst and founder of Sense Analytics consultancy. He is also a non-resident scholar of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a contributor to Belarusian independent online media Zerkalo.io, where he hosts bi-weekly Youtube show. His research interests include Belarusian domestic politics, media freedom and the broader human rights situation in the country, as well as Belarus-EU and Belarus-Russia relations. He worked as a political correspondent for the BelaPAN news agency from 2013 to 2014, political editor for TUT.BY from 2014 to 2019 and political advisor to the U.N. in Belarus in 2016

Moderation:
Marylia Hushcha, Project manager and researcher at the IIP