Belarus at the United Nations: assessing its political track record
Abstract
There is much focus on the United Nations in 2020 as it celebrates its 75th anniversary, which, in turn, generates many expectations from the organization. The UN, however, can do only as much as it is allowed by its institutional building. In particular, it is much constrained to deliver on the so-called first-tier peace and security cluster, whereas it can do far more on the second-tier non-security issues. Belarus has been engaged with the UN since 1945 with a variable degree of success. Belarus’ most conspicuous involvement in the United Nations has been taking place since 2005 as a result of its unifying initiatives.
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Published
2020-09-19
Keywords:
United Nations, Belarus, UN institutional building, first-tier issues, second-tier issues, unifying initiatives
Supporting Agencies
I would like to extend my particular appreciation to Andrei Dapkiunas, deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, for his overall review of the essay and his valuable general suggestions on the workings of the United Nations system, which he formed from his work as the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN in New York for many years. My thanks also go to Irina Velichko, director for multilateral diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, who before the current post has served as Belarus’ deputy Permanent Representative in New York, for her specific suggestions related to the issues of trafficking in persons and the family. Likewise, I am grateful to Yury Ambrazevich, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Office in Geneva, for his guidance with regard to addressing the topic of middle-income countries based on his extensive research of it, which has been published in the journal “Geneva Policy Briefs” in July 2019. Finally, I would also like to thank Vadim Pisarevich, deputy Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Office in Geneva, for his suggestion with regard to reflecting the similarities between the UN Security Council and the 19th century’s Concert of Europe, as well as for his assistance in the identification of some reference sources and help with note compilation.
How to Cite
Makei, V. V. (2020). Belarus at the United Nations: assessing its political track record. Journal of the Belarusian State University. International Relations, 1, 3-11. Retrieved from https://journals.bsu.by/index.php/internationalRelations/article/view/3028
Section
International relations
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