Origin of the conflict
In Belarus the nationalism in reaction to Gorbachevs Glasnost and Prestika policy came into existance rather late. This might have been a result of the Cherrnobyl disaster which almost coincided with Gorbachevs emergence on the Soviet stage. Only in 1988 the first demonstrations took place and Belarus announced its souvereignty on 27 January 1990. It did not object much however against the failed conservative coup in Moscow in 1991. The country reached full independence afterwards and the new president of the Upper Soviet became Stanislav Shushkevich. Besides this however the Upper Soviet remained immune for further democratic change. In 1994 Shushkevich was tackled by his political opponents. Around the same time a ne constitution was accepted in which the position of president was created. In the following election to the surprise of many not Shushkevich or his opponent Kebich won, but the Sovchoz president Aleksander Lukashenko. Lukashenko quickly cancelled some of the small changed that had taken place between 1991 and 1994. The pressure on the media was increased, the newly introduced nationalist symbols were changed in favour of remarkably soviet-like new ones and Russian was reintroduced as an official language. During his time in office Belarusian has lost position again in society and has become more an oppositional statement than a national means of communication. In a referendum in 1995 these changes were approved, together with closer economic relations with Russia and a greater power for the president. In 1996 Lukashenko was able to increase his power even more with a new list of constitutional changes accepted through a referendum. In 1999 and 2000 four prominent opponents of Lukashenko, Joeri Zacharenko, Viktor Gonchar, Anatoli Krasovski and Dmitri Zavadski disappeared under circumstances that heven ever entirely been cleared. In 2001 Lukashenko won its second term in office and in 2004 he removed the constitutional limit of two terms in office through, again, a referendum. In 2006 the elections for his third term in office were due. At the end of 2005 the pressure on the opposition was increased and activity for a non-registered organisation was legally forbidden. The largest part of the opposition backed the same candidate: Aleksandr Milinkevich. Lukashenko won the election, but after the example of the Ukrainian Orange revolution and in protest against the repression and the perceived election fraud, a tent camp was erected on the main square in Minsk. Contrary to what happened in Ukraine, the camp was dismantled by the police after a few days and a lot of people were arrested. Also in the days after (on the inofficial national holiday less than a week afterwards) people were arrested including one of the oppositional candidates, Aleksandr Kazulin.

Actors involved
The situation is no conflict in the strict sense of the word. Still society seems to be devided. A large part of the population supports Lukashenko and opposes further change. They consist mainly of the large amount of people living in village and in the country-side who have no access to other media than those controlled by Lukashenko. Many of these people do not have bad memories of the Soviet times and do not oppose Lukashenko’s flirting with communism and Russia. The people opposing Lukashenko and often favouring a more Western oriented policy are mainly the young people from the cities who have access to internet and other sources of information. They are looking for a change against Lukashenko towards a either more democratic or a more nationalistic future. Another group that has recently come into conflict with the regime are the entrepeneurs. They face sky high taxes which makes private entrepeneurship almost impossible. In various demonstrations their discontent has been shown. It has been met with condemnations to house arrest for an important part of them. These people run into conflict with Lukashenk time and again, though the use of Belarusian in official places, through the publication of independent media and through activity for nonregistered organisations. They are imprisoned, fined, expelled from their education, forcefully drafted and sentenced to house arrest.

The international community
The international community has time and again condemned the outcome of the referenda and elections of Aleksanr Lukashenko. It has often sent electoral observers, who have registered may cases of election fraud. The EU and the US have distanced themselves from this, as they call it, last European dictatorship, and have for some time restricted the travel possibilities of the most important regime officials. The last few months, after the release of several political prisoners in 2008, the EU meets Belarus with a softer stance, more open to collaboration in some fields. Russia has a less critical stance towards Belarus. The relation Russia-Belarus is however also not free of problems either. Other neighbouring countries such as Poland and Lithuania are now part of the EU and its policy. Since long they have have a problematical relationship with Minsk, especially because both countries are hosting emigré oppositional institutions such as an oppositional university and media. Ukraine has fevaoured a mor Europe-oriented Belarus since the Orangerevolution and some of its participants have even been part of the tent camp of 2006.

Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belarus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Belarus.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bo.html.
Geert Groot Koerkamp, Wit Rusland. Landenreeks (Den Haag 2009).