Open AccessForeign policy of Belarus and the evolution of its domestic political environment
Author(s) -
Andrei Skriba,
Anastasia Drozdova
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
puti k miru i bezopasnosti
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2311-5238
pISSN - 2307-1494
DOI - 10.20542/2307-1494-2020-2-150-166
Subject(s) - foreign policy , politics , political science , relevance (law) , haven , power (physics) , neorealism (international relations) , political economy , foreign policy analysis , variety (cybernetics) , great power , economic system , international relations , sociology , economics , law , physics , mathematics , combinatorics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science
For a long time, the research of Belarusian foreign policy evolved within the framework of neorealism, with the main attention paid to structural factors (external environment) and, to a very limited extent, to internal environment. The specifics of the Belarusian political system – the so-called superpresidential personalist republic, where power is concentrated primarily in hand of one person – made it meaningless to study the vast variety of other domestic actors, who hardly influenced the foreign policy decision-making process. Nevertheless, the political crisis in Belarus in the second half of 2020 has raised a critical question of inevitable evolution and transformation of the domestic socio-political environment. The result will be greater involvement in the foreign policy making of those “hidden actors” who haven’t yet come into the spotlight. It is not possible to predict the format or timing of this to happen. However, new political circumstances in Belarus increase the relevance of studying such actors, their demands, interests, and potential links to the current or future foreign policy of Belarus.