{"id":62594,"date":"2024-01-23T16:31:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T13:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=longreads&p=62594"},"modified":"2024-01-23T16:31:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T13:31:40","slug":"government-opponents-take-divergent-paths-in-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/62594\/","title":{"rendered":"Government, opponents take divergent paths in foreign policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja’s attended the World Economic Forum in Davos in mid-January, while Foreign Minister Siarhej Alejnik was at the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The two camps\u2019 choices highlight a stark difference between foreign policy priorities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (pexels.com \/ Marta Nogueira)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cichano\u016dskaja traveled to Switzerland after successful talks in Poland and Finland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her second Davos forum in a row, from January 15 to 18, she met with the Hungarian president, the prime ministers of Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Kosovo and the Netherlands and the foreign ministers of Austria, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Lithuania and Ukraine among other officials and executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja in Davos\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (World Economic Forum)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alejnik participated in the XIX NAM Summit held in Kampala, Uganda, from January 15 to 20. He met with his counterparts from Algeria, Egypt, India, Malaysia, North Korea, Philippines, Qatar and Uganda. On the sidelines, he had brief meetings with the presidents of Equatorial Guinea, Uganda and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the opposition gives priority to ties with advanced democracies, the authoritarian government of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka is looking for likeminded allies in Asia, Africa and South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk has given up on Europe<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Moscow and Minsk have recently been trying to pit the Global South against the West, suggesting that new bodies are needed to unite Asian, African and Latin American countries as a counterweight to US-led alliances. Russia and Belarus also emphasize the importance of existing non-Western alliances, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), BRICS and NAM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAM was founded during the Cold War by nations that were not formally aligned with the major blocs, such as NATO and the Warsaw Treaty Organization. After the collapse of the Soviet bloc NAM continued to exist as a soft counterweight to the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus has been a member of NAM since 1998. At that time, it was the only European country to join, which was very significant and symbolic. A quarter of a century ago Minsk gave up on Belarusians\u2019 European aspirations and shifted energies to the East and the South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka during his Zimbabwe visit in early 2023\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Press office of the president of Zimbabwe)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From the formal viewpoint, Belarus’ membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization contravenes NAM principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka criticized NAM for weakness<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NAM represents as many as 120 states. Belarusian media claim that it is the second most influential organization in the world after the UN. It holds summits every few years, the most recent one took place in Uganda earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2006, the Belarusian leader attended the NAM summit in Havana. He made a fiery speech, calling on the member states to unite into a world power, arguing for the consolidation of developing countries in the struggle against the unipolar world (i.e. the US) and Western pressure. He also pitched Belarus for the role of NAM leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his speech in Kampala on January 19, Alejnik said that NAM “should be at the center of international efforts to strengthen the trend toward the formation of a multipolar world order.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
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\n\n Alejnik at the Kampala Summit\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Glas MIDa Telegram channel)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In reality, however, NAM is a historical anachronism, a relic of the bygone era of the Cold War and the bipolar world, an impotent body in search of its identity and a new role in the new context. It has no charter, no clear political platform, no budget and no permanent governing body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAM is incapable of acting as a unified force even in serious international crises, \u0141uka\u0161enka once admitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is just a forum and a venue for meetings and negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of common principles<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The reason for its impotence and inability to take a stand on major global issues is that NAM includes countries with diverse geopolitical positions, ideologies, cultures, economic and political interests. A club of 120 states representing Asia, Africa and Latin America cannot possibly become an economic union or a military-political bloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus is now seeking to join the SCO and BRICS. Belarusian and Russian state media are vigorously promoting these non-Western organizations, hoping that they will be the pillars of the new order that will replace the unipolar world. They claim that the West and its institutions \u2013 NATO, the EU, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund and World Bank \u2013 have eroded, while the new non-Western alliances are more viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAM has failed to find its role and place in international relations, so the new groupings, such as the SCO and BRICS, are highly likely to fail too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent conflicts have exposed weaknesses of these alliances. The SCO members, Iran and Pakistan, are on the brink of war after a missile exchange. Iran fired missiles on Iraq, a country seeking observer status in the SCO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja’s attended the World Economic Forum in Davos in mid-January, while Foreign Minister Siarhej Alejnik was at the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The two camps\u2019 choices highlight a stark difference between foreign policy priorities. Cichano\u016dskaja traveled to Switzerland after successful talks in Poland and Finland. During her second Davos […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":62214,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-62594","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment, opponents take divergent paths in foreign policy | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja's attended the World Economic Forum in Davos in mid-January, while Foreign Minister Siarhej Alejnik\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/62594\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government, opponents take divergent paths in foreign policy | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta 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