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Belarus and its Neighbors: Historical Perceptions and Political Constructs BelarusBelarus andand itsits Neighbors:Neighbors: HistoricalHistorical PerceptionsPerceptions andand PoliticalPolitical ConstructsConstructs InternationalInternational ConferenceConference PapersPapers EDITED BY ALEŚ Ł AHVINIEC TACIANA Č ULICKAJA WARSAW 2013 Editors: Aleś Łahviniec, Taciana Čulickaja Project manager: Anna Grudzińska Papers of the conference “Belarus and its Neighbors: Historical Perceptions and Political Constructs”. The conference was held on 9–11 of December 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. The conference was sponsored by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Belarus Office, National Endowment for Democracy and Open Society Institute. Translation: Vieranika Mazurkievič Proof-reading: Nadzieja Šakun (Belarusian), Katie Morris (English), Adrianna Stansbury (English) Cover design: Małgorzata Butkiewicz Publication of this volume was made possible by National Endowment for Democracy. © Copyright by Uczelnia Łazarskiego, Warsaw 2013 Oficyna Wydawnicza Uczelni Łazarskiego 02-662 Warszawa ul. Świeradowska 43 tel. 22 54-35-450, 22 54-35-410 [email protected] www.lazarski.pl ISBN: 978-83-60694-49-7 OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS Implementation of publishing: Dom Wydawniczy ELIPSA ul. Infl ancka 15/198, 00-189 Warszawa tel./fax 22 635 03 01, 22 635 17 85 e-mail: [email protected], www.elipsa.pl Contents Foreword ...................................................................................................... 7 Andrzej Sulima-Kamiński – Quo Vadis, Belarus? Instead of an Introduction ..................................................................................... 11 Andrej Januškievič – Obstacles on the Way to Mutual Understanding: the Effects of National, Historical and Cultural Stereotypes on the Diplomatic Practice between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Muscovite State in the Mid-16th Century ........................... 17 Hienadź Sahanovič – Attitude of Belarus’ Population to the Russian Army in the 17th Century .................................................................... 28 Uładzimir Łobač – Images of Neighboring Peoples in the Traditional World Outlook of Belarusians ............................................................ 42 Aleh Dziarnovič – Gudas as a Historical Name of Belarusians in the Lithuanian Language: ‘Goths’ or ‘Barbarians’? ................................ 56 Alaksandr Smalančuk – Krajovaść vis-à-vis Belarusian and Lithuanian National Movements in the Early 20th Century ............................... 69 Dorota Michaluk – The Four Governments of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in the International Arena in 1918–1920 ..... 81 Ihar Kuźniacoŭ – The Bolshevik Repressions against the Belarusian National-Democratic Movement in 1920–1930ies ............................ 95 Zachar Šybieka – Treasures of Small Towns of Belarus: Common Heritage of the Rzeczpospolita ............................................................ 106 Siarhiej Čały – What are the Economic Niches of Belarus in the Region? ....................................................................................... 116 Serge Naŭrodski – Economic Relations between Belarus and Poland Before and After the Crisis ............................................ 121 Alaksiej Łastoŭski – Russocentrism among the Projects of Belarusian Identity: the Role and Prospects in the Modern Belarusian State ..................................................................... 131 Anaïs Marin – Current Challenges of EU-Belarus Relations: Can the Eastern Partnership Support the Europeanization of Belarus? ............................................................................................. 139 Alaksiej Bratačkin – Recent Trends of the Europeanization Discourse in Belarus ............................................................................. 153 Nastaśsia Klimovič – Regionalization of EU–Belarus Relations: First Step Towards Europeanization or a Possibility to Bypass the Crisis? .............................................................................................. 162 Ina Ramašeŭskaja – Possible Directions for Public Administration Reform in Belarus ................................................................................ 174 Maryna Sakałova – E-Government in Belarus: to Overcome the Inertia of Informatization ............................................................. 181 Lina Klymenko, Sergiu Gherghina – Citizens’ Perceptions of the Political Regime in Post-Soviet Belarus ................................. 196 Taciana Šukan – Youth Policy and the Attitude of the Authorities Towards Youth Organizations in Contemporary Belarus ................ 204 Natalla Arciomienka – Education Abroad: Brain Drain or Investment in the Future? .............................................................. 210 Piotr Rudkoŭski – The Freedom of Conscience in Non-Democratic Environment .......................................................................................... 218 Piotr Kuźniacoŭ – The Role of Social Networks and Other New Media in Shaping Civil Society and Building National Identity in Belarus ................................................................................ 225 Foreword n International conference on Belarusian issues with the A participation of researchers from Belarus and other countries was held at the Łazarski University’s Institute of Civic Space and Public Policy on December 9 to 11, 2011. The conference’s title “Belarus and its Neighbors: Historical Perceptions and Political Constructs” reflects the interdisciplinary nature of this event, whose organizers sought to create opportunities to discuss both Belarus’s historic past and the country’s modern political reality. This conference’s uniqueness is due to the fact that it has become a peculiar independent regional communication platform between historians, political analysts, economists, sociologists, and civil activists – everyone who is not indifferent to the fate of the country, and who wants to use one’s knowledge to understand it better. It is symbolic that the time of the conference has almost coincided with the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The twenty years that have passed from the date of establishment of Belarus’s independence – despite the political regression and consolidation of the undemocratic regime – haven’t been lost years for the development of Belarusian analytics, researchers, and civil society. Indeed, these years have been those of the processes of formation of independent scientific schools, establishment of national research traditions and approaches, development of all sorts of civic initiatives in the areas of culture, education, youth initiatives, etc. Social and humanities’ sciences are emerging; their existence as academic disciplines or independent research fields was almost impossible in the Soviet Union, as was non-partisan, non-ideological research of society. Modern Belarusian historical, social, economic, and political sciences cover increasingly newer topics whose research wasn’t even possible to imagine previously. When looking wider, 8 Aleś Łahviniec, Taciana Čulickaja Belarus gradually ceases to be “an unexplored state object”, because the circle of the country’s researchers, experts, and analysts is expanding, and the number of high-quality texts analyzing various issues increases. Despite the absence of support (and often even despite obstacles) from the government, at least a part of Belarusian researchers and academics manage to work and communicate using current research categories, carry out joint projects, organize international conferences all over the world and participate in them. Within the conference “Belarus and its Neighbors: Historical Perceptions and Political Constructs”, the participants discussed what is today’s Belarus. A post-Soviet, post-colonial state that drifts into Russia’s orbit, a country that begins behind the Bug river and stretches further to the East? A country whose existence is conditioned by the dependent status between Russia and the European Union? Or is it a certain national building project that is happening at this very moment? As Alaksandr Ćvikievič wrote: “Belarus’s revival can be understood as an evolutionary, cultural process that previously was suppressed by violent measures of the police-ridden state and that now, in the context of the free democratic statehood, should develop normally and should eventually form an independent Belarusian culture. In its nature, this process is calm and depends on the rise of the country’s intellectual forces that cannot be created by the respective order of the state authority.”1 The period of the organic work of nation and state building is still going on in Belarus. The independent Belarusian culture exists despite the present “refrigerator effect” created by the regime. Further development and expansion of an alternative narrative is still an immediate challenge for researchers, civic activists, and everyone who cares about the country’s future. The conference “Belarus and its Neighbors: Historical Perceptions and Political Constructs” aimed at considering the issues of Belarus’s relations with its neighbors, including political and economic ties, cultural relations, historical stereotypes, as well as the interactions 1 Цьвікевіч А. Адраджэньне Беларусі і Польшча // Беларуская думка XX стагод- дзя. Філасофія, рэлігія, культура. Анталогія. Укладанне, прадмова і апрацаванне Ю. Гарбінскага. Варшава, 1998. С. 61. [Ćvikievič A. The revival