IGSD News
UK and Belarusian Democratic Forces Convene High-Level Strategic Consultations in London
LONDON, March 9, 2026 – The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) today hosted the Belarusian Democratic Forces for a series of high-level strategic consultations at King Charles Street. The meetings represent a deepening of the ongoing strategic dialogue between the United Kingdom and the representatives of the democratic movement led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
The consultations were led by Chris Allan, FCDO Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The sessions were organized around four critical pillars of cooperation:
- Politics and Economics: Focusing on diplomatic strategy and the economic resilience of the democratic movement.
- Security: Addressing regional stability and security sector reforms for a future democratic Belarus.
- Human Rights and Social Politics: Highlighting the plight of political prisoners and the ongoing struggle for civil liberties.
- Culture, Diaspora, and Media: Strengthening the Belarusian national identity and supporting independent media and the diaspora community abroad.
These consultations build upon a partnership launched in 2025, aimed at ensuring Belarus remains a priority in the UK’s international policy. The discussions today included prominent Belarusian experts and civil society leaders, including Professor Elena Korosteleva from the University of Warwick.
Further information on UK support for Belarus can be found on the official FCDO websiteLink opens in a new window and the Office of Sviatlana TsikhanouskayaLink opens in a new window.
📢 Reclaiming Resilience: Professor Elena Korosteleva on Overcoming Global Crises through Community
I am pleased to share a deep dive into my latest research, which challenges how we think about "resilience" in an increasingly complex world. In a recent interview with the Lithuanian National Broadcaster, I discussed why our current approach to global crises is failing. We often treat resilience as a "top-down" buzzword or a "quick fix," but in the era of the Anthropocene, true resilience is born from within communities—through self-organization, horizontal relations, and collective agency.
This theme is the heartbeat of my new book, Complexity and Community in International Relations: Nurturing Resilience in Central Eurasia (Oxford University Press). By moving "from personhood to peoplehood," the book explores how local knowledge and philosophies of living—from talaka to mahalla—can transform our understanding of governance and transformation when hit by crisis.
📰 Read the interview here: [https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/lietuvoje/2/2863332/profesore-korosteleva-krizes-galime-iveikti-tik-susitelkdami-i-bendruomeniu-santykius]
#InternationalRelations #Resilience #Community #Anthropocene #NewBook #OxfordUniversityPress #GlobalGovernance #CentralEurasia
Belarus: Five Years On - special forum, preprint
Happy to report a preprint of my article 'Belarus: Five Years On' in the US Journal of Democratizatsiya - The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratisation, Special Forum with a focus on #Belarus then and now. I discuss whether the uprising of 2020 was just another short-lived revolt or if it marked the moment of irreversible #change in the history of #Belarus, which I call elsewhere a moment of people-forming (peoplehood). Belarus' active #civil #society demonstrates incredible #creativity in designing its own alternative futures, and this process is unstoppable.
HOPE: Alternative futures and broken worlds
On 11 February, Professor David Chandler kicked off the Sustainability Spotlight's first thematic event with his book talk on HOPE: Alternative Futures and Broken Worlds. The thematic event was part of the 'Radical Imaginaries - Radical Transformations' series of activities coordinated by Dr Marit Hammond (PAIS), Professors Graeme Macdonald (English) and Elena Korosteleva (IGSD). The discussion problematised the meaning of hope as an instrument of neoliberal thinking, to seek alternative understandings and develop radical imaginaries of alternative futures, The discussion will be continued by a workshop on 30 April, with external speakers and research network-building.
Carnegie Europe debate about Europe's engagement with Belarus hosts top-level experts
Carnegie Europe organised a higher-level discussion on the need for Europe to re-engage with Belarus. 10 experts, ranging from former Ambassadors, heads of think-tanks, and scholars, were invited to respond in 200 words to the question of engagement, and while there were nuances in responses, the general gist was a 'no' to engaging with dictators. This is reassuring, especially on the eve of the 4th anniversary of Russia's war against Ukraine: putting more pressure on dictators and being strategic in supporting opposition is the only way forward, as was argued by Professor Korosteleva.