The Lukashenko Regime in Belarus

Abstract President Alexander Lukashenko is Europe’s longest-serving political leader; Belarus is often dubbed Europe’s ‘last dictatorship’. This chapter addresses Lukashenko’s rise to power and the consolidation of his non-democratic regime through circumvention, subordination, and commandeering. The political system adapted and changed to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century by drawing on a variety of elite groups and opportunistically appealing to a range of potential supporters in society. As the nationwide protests of 2020 demonstrated, the regime’s room for manoeuvre has narrowed and Lukashenko’s personalist rule increasingly depends on repression, the siloviki, and Russia’s willingness to support it for its survival.