A Discussion with Belarussian Think Tank Leaders

The crisis in Europe’s East has focused attention specifically on Ukraine and Crimea; however, it is important to address the threat that the events in Ukraine pose to the future of other Central and Eastern European countries. In order to provide an outlook on how Russia’s actions in Ukraine will affect Belarus, and to evaluate the prospects for transatlantic cooperation in solving the common challenges faced by Belarus and neighboring countries, the Atlantic Council hosted a select delegation of prominent analysts and civil society leaders for an off-the-record discussion of the Ukraine crisis from the Belarussian perspective.

The delegation included:
Dzianis Melyantsou, senior analyst at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies since August 2007 and co-founder of the Institute of Political Studies “Political Sphere” magazine.

Ina Ramasheuskaya, research manager of the Belarus Institute for Public Administration Reform (BIPART), a think tank initiative established in 2013. She has over 15 years of experience in the sphere of international development, having worked in the range of organizations from the Belarusian Red Cross to the Development Executive Group.

Arsenij Sivitski, director of the Center for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies, one of Belarus’ most recently-established think tanks. The aspiration of the group is to stir policy debate and put Belarus’s foreign and security policy decision making on a more professional, merit and evidence-based foundation. He is also an analyst and columnist at the only state funded Belarusian language daily Zvezda.