Abstract
Instituting a dictatorship is not easy. Hanging on to that dictatorship is no child's play either. In its seven chapters, Living High Life in Minsk: Russian Energy Rents, Domestic Populism and Belarus’ Impending Crisis provides a unique approach to understanding the longevity of the Lukashenka regime. By examining the highs and lows of the Lukashenka regime's manipulation of energy policy, the book argues that the connections between external energy rents and their applications domestically ensured the regime stability in the country. The book also sheds light on Russian energy behavior in the post-Soviet region and helps us to understand better why neither sticks nor carrots from the West managed to produce any lasting improvements in the progress toward democracy in Belarus.
The author's theoretical framework in her Introduction provides a well-supported rationale to clearly understand the essence of the economic relationship between the limited bargaining power of Belarus and it's much more powerful Russian partner.
The book continues with a brief overview of Belarusian history from the 14th century up to Alexander Lukashenka coming to power in 1994. While incisive, such a historical introduction will only be helpful for readers unfamiliar with Belarus. On p. 31, the author makes us aware that the analysis covering the central question begins in Chapter 3 starting with the year 1994.
Chapter 3 presents the most valuable part of the book and covers the “high years” when Belarus was able to capture high energy rents from its relationship with Russia, 1994–2004. The book covers in detail Belarus’ external management of its energy dependency (including its role in gas and oil transit to Western Europe) and the total transformation of the sector into the main source of income for the Belarusian state. The book touches upon reliance on selective cross-subsidization to ensure high levels of popular support. In Chapter 4, the book introduces the role of the Nomenklatura for the stability of the regime. The author, however, devotes only two pages to this subject.
Heading into the period 2004–2011, Chapters 5, 6 and 7 discuss the “low years” and provide a crisp analysis of the new conditions emerging after Gazprom's cut-off of gas deliveries to Belarus in 2004. Following Vladimir Putin's election as president in 2000 and given Russia's growing ability to transit oil and gas to Western Europe by bypassing Belarus, Lukashenka's aspiration of having Russian energy subsidies was getting less and less realistic.
Living High Life in Minsk: Russian Energy Rents, Domestic Populism and Belarus’ Impending Crisis provides a valuable contribution to political science and Belarusian history, blending theoretical sophistication with deep knowledge of the specific cases considered. The book provides information and ideas that will be practical for policy makers as well as researchers interested in a deeper understanding of international and domestic politics in Eastern Europe.