The thesis demonstrates the entry strategy of a fundamentally new product - the magazine-catalogue of business books through the publishing house - to the B2B Belarusian book market. This product will help companies to make a better choice in the market of business literature. Customers will enjoy an overview and easy access to the titles, will have a quick reference about the content and prices, and will be able to place purchase orders online. The central issue is the optimization of courier service in the capital city Minsk and the surrounding area based on the customer demand. Therefore there is a need to introduce a new product, which will help to order books through catalogue and having them delivered by post, saving both, time and energy. The thesis is based on actual experience and its conclusions can be used in business practice.

The diploma Thesis objective is analysis of macroeconomic development of Belarus during years 2000-2011. I've decided to focus on the effects of monetary policy that was executed by the central bank in particular years. The final outcome of the macroeconomic analysis is the evaluation of the success of monetary policy executed by the central bank.

The study follows the process of the construction of belarussian national identity between the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries in terms of community of name, language, territory and historical memories. This subjective foundation of a nation does not blend in the belarussian case with the civic model. Historical memory of Kalinovski's Uprising demonstrates the dubiousness of using a common historical past which itself corresponds with that of Russia and Poland. On the contrary, the allocating of belarussian national identity according to social demands was convinient. Unsuccesful vindication of the historical legacy of "Litva" and the failure of Belarussian to become the language of bureaucracy caused a decoupling of the genealogical bonds from the national identity. The longing of "tutejshi" for social happiness facilitated the appropriation of national identity as essentially a soviet one. Belarussians are becoming Belarussians as toiling people who are emancipated in a national state, deliniated by the colonial map. Keywords: Belarus, national identity, nationalism, national state, belorussification, «tutejshi»

<p>This book examines and analyses the Union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden signed in 1655 at Kėdainiai and the political crisis that followed. The union was a result of strong separatist dreams among the Lithuanian-Ruthenian Protestant elite led by the Radziwiłł family, and if implemented it would radically change the balance of power in the Baltic Sea region. The main legal point of the Union was the breach of Lithuanian federation with Poland and the establishment of a federation with Sweden. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania aspired to return to international relations as a self-governing subject. The Union meant a new Scandinavian alternative to Polish and Russian domination. The author places the events in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the general crisis that occurred in Europe in the middle of the 17th century characterized by a great number of wars, rebellions and civil wars from Portugal to Ukraine, and which builds the background to the crisis for Lithuania and Sweden. The research proved the importance of lesser powers in changing the geopolitical balance between the Great Powers. The conflict over Lithuania and Belarus was the main reason for the Swedish-Russian, Polish-Russian and Ukrainian-Russian wars. The failure of the Union with Sweden was caused by both internal and external factors. Internally, various ethnic, confessional and political groups within the nobility of Lithuania were split in favour of different foreign powers – from Muscovy to Transylvania. The external cause for the failure of the Union project was the failure of Swedish strategy. Sweden concentrated its activity to Poland, not to Lithuania. After the Union, Swedish authorities treated the Grand Duchy as an invaded country, not an equal. The Swedish administration introduced heavy taxation and was unable to control the brutality of the army. As a result Sweden was defeated in both Lithuania and Poland. Among the different economic, political and religious explanations of the general crisis, the case of Lithuania shows the importance of the political conflicts. For the separatists of Lithuania the main motive to turn against Poland and to promote alliance with Sweden, Russia or the Cossacks was the inability of Poland to shield the Grand Duchy from a Russian invasion.The Lithuanian case was a provincial rebellion led by the native nobility against their monarch, based on tradition of the previous independence and statehood period. It was not nationalism in its modern meaning, but instead a crisis of identity in the form of a conflict between Patria and Central Power. However, the cost of being a part of Sweden or Muscovy was greater than the benefit of political protection. Therefore, the pro-Polish orientation prevailed when Poland after 1658 recovered its military ability the local nobility regrouped around Warsaw. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania managed to remain on the political map of Europe, but at the price of general religious Catholization and cultural Polonization. After the crisis, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania gradually changed into a deep province of the Polish state.</p>

Social scientists agree that public confidence in social institutions is a crucial element in building democratic society. This is especially true for transitional societies including post-communist countries, because the lack of public confidence in newly emerged democratic institutions can interfere with democratic development. Although different theories explaining public confidence in social institutions were developed, these theories ignored the role that mass media play in building public confidence. The goal of this study is to examine the connection between mass media coverage of social institutions and public confidence in these institutions by conducting content analysis of Belarusian newspapers, reviewing the results of the public opinion polls from Belarus, and exploring the links between coverage of social institutions and trust in them. Four institutions were chosen for this examination: two institutions with high level of confidence representing the state (the President, the military) and two institutions with low level of confidence representing civil society (independent labor unions, opposition political parties). Results showed that there is a noticeable connection between media coverage and public confidence in social institutions. Content analysis demonstrated that the state-run newspapers publish a great number of articles about Belarus President Lukashenko, covering him within the scope of explicitly positive themes. As results of public opinion polls demonstrate, the President enjoys an high level of confidence amongst people who trust state-run Media. On the other hand, independent newspapers present President Lukashenko in a negative different light: he is being depicted as a dictator and an ineffective leader. According to public opinion polls, people who trust the independent media are less confident in the President: more than 42% do have confidence in him. Given that state-run newspapers present the President almost exclusively within positive themes and independent newspapers seldom speak of the President’s achievements, concentrating mostly on his failures and shortcomings, we can see a strong connection between media coverage of the President and levels of public confidence in him. Examining media coverage and public opinion about other social institutions provided similar results, confirming the connection between media coverage and public confidence in this study.

This book examines and analyses the Union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden signed in 1655 at Kėdainiai and the political crisis that followed. The union was a result of strong separatist dreams among the Lithuanian-Ruthenian Protestant elite led by the Radziwiłł family, and if implemented it would radically change the balance of power in the Baltic Sea region. The main legal point of the Union was the breach of Lithuanian federation with Poland and the establishment of a federation with Sweden. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania aspired to return to international relations as a self-governing subject. The Union meant a new Scandinavian alternative to Polish and Russian domination. The author places the events in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the general crisis that occurred in Europe in the middle of the 17th century characterized by a great number of wars, rebellions and civil wars from Portugal to Ukraine, and which builds the background to the crisis for Lithuania and Sweden. The research proved the importance of lesser powers in changing the geopolitical balance between the Great Powers. The conflict over Lithuania and Belarus was the main reason for the Swedish-Russian, Polish-Russian and Ukrainian-Russian wars. The failure of the Union with Sweden was caused by both internal and external factors. Internally, various ethnic, confessional and political groups within the nobility of Lithuania were split in favour of different foreign powers – from Muscovy to Transylvania. The external cause for the failure of the Union project was the failure of Swedish strategy. Sweden concentrated its activity to Poland, not to Lithuania. After the Union, Swedish authorities treated the Grand Duchy as an invaded country, not an equal. The Swedish administration introduced heavy taxation and was unable to control the brutality of the army. As a result Sweden was defeated in both Lithuania and Poland. Among the different economic, political and religious explanations of the general crisis, the case of Lithuania shows the importance of the political conflicts. For the separatists of Lithuania the main motive to turn against Poland and to promote alliance with Sweden, Russia or the Cossacks was the inability of Poland to shield the Grand Duchy from a Russian invasion.The Lithuanian case was a provincial rebellion led by the native nobility against their monarch, based on tradition of the previous independence and statehood period. It was not nationalism in its modern meaning, but instead a crisis of identity in the form of a conflict between Patria and Central Power. However, the cost of being a part of Sweden or Muscovy was greater than the benefit of political protection. Therefore, the pro-Polish orientation prevailed when Poland after 1658 recovered its military ability the local nobility regrouped around Warsaw. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania managed to remain on the political map of Europe, but at the price of general religious Catholization and cultural Polonization. After the crisis, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania gradually changed into a deep province of the Polish state.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, many predicted there would be economic policy convergence, where it was assumed that the post-Soviet states would all transition into liberal-capitalist economies. Over twenty years later, these forecasts have been confounded by the wide divergence in the political-economic policy practices of the post-Soviet states, which has been particularly apparent between Latvia and Belarus. In terms of policy, Latvia made comprehensive liberal reforms to become a market economy and orient its policies close to Europe and away from Russia. Conversely, Belarus has taken a completely divergent path from Latvia, and has followed a consistent and clear pattern of behavior in regards to political-economic affairs, which could be described as being anti-liberal, anti-reform, and pro-Russian in orientation. Comparing Latvia and Belarus provides an excellent case study to build on International Relations, International Political Economy and Comparative Politics literature, because traditional theories have difficulty in explaining these states divergent policies. This dissertation uses political-cultural theoretical arguments to explain the divergent patterns of political-economic development between both countries, and builds on the rich body of multidisciplinary literature on cultural studies found within Social Constructivism to help understand the political-cultural context in which Latvia’s and Belarus’s policies were chosen. Specifically, this dissertation highlights that the predominant political-cultural worldviews in Latvia and Belarus, were shaped by the historic religious-cultural environment in which these states were situated, which have had a central influence on the patterns of domestic political-economic development chosen by each country since 1991. Additionally, this dissertation also shows that such worldviews had important implications for international relations, in that Latvia being historically situated in the sphere of Western Christian culture gravitated towards the West and away from the Russia, while Belarus being historically situated predominantly in the cultural sphere of Russian Orthodox Christianity was more naturally prone to gravitate towards closer relations with Russia, and away from Western Europe. This is important in pointing to the prime influence of religious-cultural worldviews in shaping political-economic behavior. In doing so my work addresses many gaps left by previous theoretical explanations on post-Soviet transformation. In terms of policy implications, the findings will have a wider applicability in helping to understand the types of political-economic development policies that are chosen by other states in post-Communist, post-authoritarian, and post-colonial contexts, which are experiencing extensive transformation and integration into the global economy.

Tyrimo objektas - socialinio teisingumo sąvoka nedemokratinėje valstybėje (Baltarusijos pavyzdys), įgyvendinama įvairiose diskursyvinėse praktikose besikeičiančiame instituciniame kontekste 2006-2010 metais. Sąvoka socialinis teisingumas nagrinėjama kaip vienas iš kertinių šalyje egzistuojančio gerovės režimo pagrindų. Darbo naujumą sąlygoja tai, kad tema nėra išgvildenta nei užsienio, nei baltarusių autorių akademiniuose tyrimuose. Tikslas - ištirti pagrindinius (vyraujantį ir alternatyvų) socialinio teisingumo naratyvus Baltarusijoje, išaiškinti ir dinamikoje palyginti jų turinio dedamąsias, o taip pat išanalizuoti jų įtaką viešosios politikos procesui. Darbas susideda iš 6 dalių. Pirmojoje nagrinėjami teoriniai požiūriai į sąvoką socialinis teisingumas ir analizuojama posocialistinės būklės (Fraser, Furs) samprata, kuri svarbi darbo turinio kontekstui. Antroje dalyje aprašyti darbe naudoti metodai. Trečioji dalis skirta Baltarusijos socialinio ir ekonominio konteksto problematikai. Ketvirtojoje dalyje pateikti Baltarusijos politinio lauko ypatumai, įskaitant jo skilimą į valdžios ir opozicinę dalis. Penktojoje dalyje aptariami valdžios subjektų pasisakymai, formuojantys socialinio teisingumo naratyvą. Šeštojoje dalyje analizuojami opozicinių subjektų naratyvai. Analizė leidžia daryti išvadas, kad reikšminį sąvokos socialinis teisingumas užpildymą Baltarusijoje vykdė valdžia ir jis neturėjo jokių reikšmingų alternatyvų. / The subject of research is the concept of social justice in a non-democratic state (here, Belarus) implemented in different discursive practices and changing institutional context in the period of 2006-2010. The concept of social justice is considered to be one of the conceptual foundations of the welfare regime existing in the country. The novelty of the work is determined by the underdeveloped nature of the topic in the academic research of foreign as well as Belarusian authors. The objective is to research the main (governmental one and alternative ones) narratives of social justice in Belarus. The work is divided into six chapters. The first one examines theoretical approaches to the concept of social justice and analyses the concept of post-socialist condition (Fraser). The second chapter informs of the methods applied in the work. The third one is dedicated to the issues of the socio-economic context of Belarus in the period of 2006-2010. The fourth chapter examines the specifics of the political field of Belarus, its breakup into the governmental and oppositional parts. The fifth one analyses their statements comprising the social-justice narrative used as one of conceptual foundations of the welfare regime existing in the country. The sixth chapter investigates the oppositional narrative. One of the main conclusions of the research is that the concept of social justice in Belarus was determined by the authorities and had no alternatives comparable in importance.

В данной диссертации анализируется политика в области ликвидации последствий катастрофы на Чернобыльской АЭС в Беларуси с 1986 по 2008 год с точки зрения взаимодействия различных концепций. Примение методологии дискурс-коалиций позволяет выявить взаимодействие дискурс-коалиций в чернобыльской политики на разных этапах, а также проследить дискурсивные элементы формирования ядерной политики в Беларуси, обусловленной строительством АЭС. / Nepaisant to, kad po avarijos Černobylio atominė elektrinė buvo uždaryta (1986), Černobylis tebeveikia socialinį ir politinį gyvenimą Baltarusijoje (per avariją labai nukentėjusioje kaimyninėje valstybėje). Černobylį šioje disertacijoje apibrėžiame kaip įvairių socialinių aktorių (valstybinių institucijų, politinių partijų, nevyriausybinių organizacijų, mokslo įstaigų ir pan.) vis peržiūrimą ir atnaujinamą Černobylio avarijos interpretacijų rinkinį. Disertaciniame darbe analizuojami įvairūs diskursai ir naratyvai, susiję su Černobylio avarijos padariniais Baltarusijoje 1986-2008. Taikant sociologines rizikos visuomenės (Beck 2000; Borraz 2008), mokslinių faktų konstrukcijos (Callon 1979; Latour 1989, 2004), biovaldžios (Foucault 1996) sampratas ir diskurso koalicijų metodologiją (Hajer 1995), disertacijoje pateikiama konstruktyvistinė Černobylio politikos analizė. Disertacijos tikslas: Černobylio politikoje bei jos aktorių ir jų naratyvų visumoje identifikuoti diskurso koalicijas ir analizuoti jų raišką (nedemokratinės valstybės atveju). Disertacijoje atskleidžiama tai, kaip diskurso koalicijos traktuoja Černobylio avarijos sukeltus padarinius ir kaip atominės energetikos politikoje atsispindi rizikos visuomenės ir bio-politikos retorika. / Despite the shutdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (1986) it still influences the social and political reality. Chernobyl appears in this research as the result of work of interpretation of the aftermaths of Chernobyl disaster by different actors: state bodies, political parties, NGO and scientific institutions. This research touches upon different discourses, story-lines through witch the consequences of the accident on Chernobyl plant are managed in Belarus from 1986 to 2008. Applying such sociological concepts as risk (Beck 2000; Borraz 2008), construction of scientific facts (Callon 1979; Latour 1989, 2004), biopower (Foucault 1996) and the methodology of the discourse-coalitions (Hajer 1995) in this dissertation the constructivist analysis of the politics of Chernobyl is represented. The main hypothesis of this research is to identify the discourse-coalitions within the Chernobyl policy, the actors and story-lines they utter. This research analyses also how the risks created by Chernobyl accident are treated and how biopolitics rhetoric is articulated in the discourse-coalitions and reveals their role in the nuclear policy.

The aim of this thesis is to critically assess the diplomatic performance of the European Union (EU) in its neighbourhood, namely in Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus after the inauguration of the European External Action Service (EEAS). The Lisbon Treaty announced the need for a stronger, more efficient, more coherent EU in world politics. This implied, inter alia, that in third countries, the former Commission representations have been transformed into Union Delegations that represent the EU. Besides this, the Treaty changes opened an opportunity for coordination between national and EU level diplomacy in order to obtain a more effective collective effort. These changes where focused on EU s overall performance, which has been a salient issue on the agenda of European policy-makers. The issue of the EU s performance in the wider Eastern Europe remains poignant, not least because of current developments in its neighbourhood (such as the crisis in Ukraine, Moldova s downturn in its democratization efforts or the inclusion of Belarus on the list of most repressive countries in the world). While the Brussels-based part of the EEAS has captured the attention of both academic and non-academic literature, this thesis turns its focus to the performance and diplomatic practice of the EU in third countries, i.e Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. When talking about European diplomatic performance abroad, a key focus in the thesis is on practices through which the details of everyday practices that form and shape the performance of any actor is explored. In order to do so, the investigation conducted for this research is guided by three assumptions on the use of EU diplomacy in overcoming its foreign policy dilemmas. Looking at performance, then, implies examining EU diplomatic practices against pre-set goals; evaluating the cooperation between member-states (MS) embassies and Union Delegations towards formulating and implementing a common approach ; and, conducting a screening of diplomatic capabilities on the ground. Findings show that the EU delegations represent the EU as a whole, became communication hubs on the ground and took the lead on cooperation with the EU MS embassies. Empirical evidence revealed that, in practice, the Delegations continued to conduct aid-driven diplomacy, as a legacy from the former Commission representations. And, that the coexistence of national and EU diplomacy was marked, at times, by MS opting out of the common approach in favour of parallel actions. While the Delegations in these countries have grown in size and, most importantly, have diplomats as staff members; the development of the Delegations also came with an intra- and inter-institutional tension on the ground that echoed Brussels institutional dynamics. Lastly, a comparative evaluation of EU diplomatic performance in Eastern Europe more generally uncovered multistakeholder diplomacy, burden-sharing, bloc diplomacy, unilateral diplomatic actions and interest-driven diplomacy as key drivers and dividers in EU s attempt to address its foreign policy dilemmas.