If it were a fictional state like Ruritania, Belarus would
evoke a wry smile. A fragment of the old USSR with a population of
just over 10 million, it is ruled by an elected megalomaniac
seemingly determined to show that the Soviet system could in time
have redeemed itself. Old ladies, wearing their Brezhnev-era best,
shop in well-stocked state stores. The TV offers updates on harvest
successes and dwells on the social implosion of rival former Soviet
republics. It's a place where a bottle of vodka costs a dollar and
rent only a few dollars more. The hammer and sickle competes with
western icons such as Madonna and Sony, and the security forces -
still called the KGB - harry the opposition, though it is free
enough to complain openly about the lack of democracy.
For more than half a decade, the republic of Belarus has been
treated by the...
