Belarus Post-Election Briefing

With Chris Miller, Assistant Professor of International History at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University

The world watched closely on August 9th when people in Belarus headed to the polls to elect their next president. The country’s current president, Alexander Lukashenko, has been in power since 1994. Often referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictator,’ Lukashenko met an unlikely challenger — 37 year old Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Growing discontent over economic stagnation, mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic, and restrictions on civil liberties may cause the perfect storm for a change in power. In this event, FPRI’s Eurasia Program Director Chris Miller spoke with Katia Glod, the former Belarus representative of the European Endowment for Democracy in Minsk, about the election results and what they signify for Belarus and its neighbors.

This piece is republished from Foreign Policy Research Institute.