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The Generation Gap, Or Belarusian Differences in Goals, Values and Strategy 2 3 1 The Generation Gap, or Belarusian Differences in Goals, Values and Strategy 2 3 The Generation Gap, or Belarusian Differences in Goals, Values and Strategy Edited by Andrej Dynko 4 Komitet Redakcyjny: Andrzej Sulima-Kamiński, Valer Bulhakau, Andrej Dynko, Eulalia Łazarska, Amanda Murphy. © Copyright by Wyższa Szkoła Handlu i Prawa im. Ryszarda Łazarskiego w Warszawie, Instytut Przestrzeni Obywatelskiej i Polityki Społecznej, Warszawa 2008 Projekt jest współfinansowany przez National Endowment for Democracy. Oficyna Wydawnicza Wyższej Szkoły Handlu i Prawa im. Ryszarda Łazarskiego 02-662 Warszawa ul. Świeradowska 43 tel. 022 54-35-450 e-mail: [email protected] www.lazarski.edu.pl ISBN 978-83-60694-19-0 Materiały z konferencji w dniach 3-5 czerwca 2006 r. Nakład 300 egz. DegVXdlVc^Z`dbejiZgdlZ!Ygj`^degVlV/ 9dbLnYVlc^Xon:A>EH6! ja#>c[aVcX`V&*$&.-!%%"&-.LVghoVlV iZa#$[Vm%''+(*%(%&!%''+(*&,-*! Z"bV^a/Za^ehV5Za^ehV#ea!lll#Za^ehV#ea 5 CONTENTS Andrzej Sulima Kaminski. A few words of introduction ............................................7 THE GENERATION GAP: THE MOTOR OR THE BRAKES ? Jan Maksymiuk. Is the Belarusian Oppositio n Losing the Battle for Young Minds? ................................................................................................. 13 Dzianis Mieljancou. The Change of Generations within the Belarusian Opposition: Is There a Conflict? .................................................. 18 Walter Stankevich. A New Wave of Emigrants: Varied Goals and Values ............... 22 Ales Mikhalevich. Generations in the Belarusian Popular Front ...... ....................... 28 Andrej Kazakievic. The Ages and Careers of Top Judges in Belarus ...................... 32 CONFLICTING PERCEPTIONS OF CHANGES IN AND AROUND BELARUS AFTER 2006 Lucan Way. Strengths and Weaknesses of Contemporary Authoritarian Regimes ............................................................. 41 Alaksandr Chubryk. What Reforms Do Belarusians Expect? ..................................50 Dzmitry Kruk. Has reform begun? Indicators of Economic Reform in Belarus .....67 Juraj Marušiak. The Visegrad Group and Belarus — The Potential for Cooperation within the European Context ..............................77 Yury Chavusau. The Arrangements of the Opposition Forces in 2007 and 2008 ....90 Vital Silicki. Catch Up with and Overtake Europe: the New Logic for the Transformation of Lukashenka’s Regime .......................99 Kiryl Haiduk. Identifying and Defining ‘Social Contracts’ in Contemporary Belarus ................................................................................... 11 0 A LANGUID NATION? PUBLIC ACTIVITY OR PASSIVITY: AGE FACTO R Taciana Chulickaja. The Notion of a “Democratic Outlook” as Understood by Belarusian Students............................................................... 11 9 6 Siarhej Bohdan. Belarus Reloaded. Evolution of belarusian culture and Different Projects of Belarus ....................................................................... 13 0 Iryna Vidanava. The “New Media” as a Form of Youth Resistance ...................... 14 0 Yury Drakakhrust. Cultural Types and the Political Process ..................................15 1 David R. Marples and Uladzimir Padhol. Creating New National History from Old: the Role of Historical Memory and World War II in Contemporary Belarus ...................................................................................157 THE VOICE OF THE YOUTH: MOTIVATIONS FOR RESISTANCE Michas Pashkevic. Why I Became a Civic Activist and my Schoolmates Did Not (or Why I Need it More than Others) ................17 1 Juras Mielashkevich. Why I Became a Civic Activist, but My Friends Did Not .....................................................................................176 Volha Karach. Why I am Involved in Politics and My Classmates Keep Away from It, or Myths and Stereotypes about Belarusian Volunteers… ................................178 Alaksandr Chyhir. Why I Became a Civic Activist and My Schoolmates Did Not ............................................................................189 Ales Zarembiuk. Why I Became a Civic Activist and My Schoolmates Did Not ...........................................................................19 2 Darka Slabchanka. Why I Became a Civic Activist and My Schoolmates Did Not ............................................................................196 Vital Brouka. Why I Became a Civic Activist and My Friends Did Not ...............20 2 Authors....................................................................................................................205 7 Prof. Andrzej Sulima Kaminski A FEW WORDS OF INTRODUCTION The fight for civic rights, for the respect of law, for a democratic government and for the precedence of public interest over that of the executive has a long and edifying history marked by victories and defeats, as well as more or less func - tional compromises. This book offers an insight into just such an ongoing strug - gle in Belarus. To those involved in the conflict only the current moment tends to really matter. Activists tend to measure achievements and setbacks in days and months, and rarely in years. Not surprisingly, petty personal quarrels are given too much attention, while structural changes in civic values that are crucial for the future and are measured in decades escape notice. This is the reason why we thought to bring together the activists of this political struggle along with observ - ers and analysts for a moment of reflection, for a look at the past and for a look to the future. While its focus is on Belarus, this book also deals with matters of global importance, central to the political life of many countries. There is a strik - ing similarity apparent when one compares the fate of Belarus with that of other former Soviet republics. It is a fact that the provincial, patriarchic and sultanist regime of Belarus makes it the European nation most similar to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries. This is especially obvious in com - parison with Lithuania, with which Belarusians share – more and more eager - ly – a history spanning several centuries. A comparative analysis of those crisis points, which led to either the defeat or the sustainable triumph of democratic principles (entry into NATO and the European Union), and which “exploded” in Russia as well as in all the other former captive nations, carries not only a cog - nitive value but also a very immediate strategic meaning for the future, of great significance for Ukraine at the moment. Although civic forces have suffered de - 8 ANDRZEJ SULIMA KAMINSKI feat and democracy is on the decline in most of the former republics of the So - viet Union, it is necessary to remember that the same happened in the West Eu - ropean countries in the 1920’s. They managed, at great cost, to reverse the back - slide into autocracy and totalitarianism, and restore democracy. Yet the struggle continues and we all are, in Manichean terms, involved, supporting the forces of either good or evil. One can draw parallels between the fates of contemporary Belarus and those of East European nations during the period between the two World Wars. The Treaty of Versailles guaranteed all new states international recognition of their sovereign - ty, democratic systems and constitutions. But the new order was shaky. Through - out the region, from the Adriatic to Baltic Sea, with the exception of Czechoslo - vakia, parliamentary democracies were bogged down in inter-party strife and par - alyzed by inner fighting in coalition governments and subsequently were taken over by autocrats capable of suppressing radicals both right and left. In neigh - boring Lithuania, and also in Estonia for instance, dictators legalized their rule through general referenda which were not rigged. Modern parliamentary majority governments in the post-Communist countries, in which a party leader’s position or antipathy plays a greater role than voters who have no influence whatsoever on their representatives, are not much more effective. Parliamentary democracy does not have many ideological opponents at present and, what’s more, there is little effort being made to push for reasonable reform programs. Moreover, mem - bership of the European Union guarantees its survival. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe found itself in a situation reminiscent of the post- Versailles status. Some states (Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia) disintegrated; new independent states sprang up, new parties; platforms and leaders took the stage. A combination of anti-Communism, historical traditions and the opposition cre - dos helped restore democracy and parliamentary systems in these states. This was also the case in Belarus. But its parliamentary democracy there was quickly overrun by an autocracy, whose “stability” is not only attributable to the nation’s apathy, but also to an insufficient sense of the need for the changes ad - vocated by the opposition. Belarusians are more nostalgic for the Soviet Union than people in other European republics of the former Soviet Union, and many associate the opposition’s democratic rhetoric with the economic and political tur - moil of the early 1990’s. Textbooks written from a Russian viewpoint of Belaru - sian history discourage young people from looking westward. Unlike people in Western Europe, East Europeans clearly realize that member - ship in NATO and the EU is a choice made against Russia. Kremlin politicians A few words of
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