Primary features of U.S. foreign policy and their application in Belarus

This article discusses and contextualizes U.S. foreign policy preferences towards Belarus. It analyses how traditional and modern foreign policy instruments can be used to hold authoritarian rulers accountable for violations and anti-democratic practices; how U.S. actions may counter such regimes. It interrogates how the U.S. prioritizes countries for diplomatic engagement. Our emphasis is on engagement with Belarus, given its distance from the U.S., but proximity to increasingly authoritarian Russia. Indeed, there are many reasons to renew strategic U.S. diplomacy there, though interest in Belarus abated following the return of its nuclear weapons to Russia. Factors such as Belarus' economic dependence on Russia, its annihilation of civil society and open support of Russian aggression in Ukraine, among others, signal a need for the U.S. to reconsider a renewed alliance with the country.