In this week’s episode, Jeremy Shapiro stepped in as host and welcomes senior policy fellows Kadri Liik and Andrew Wilson as well as political scientist and editor of “Belarus-Analysen” Olga Dryndova to the podcast. Together, they shed light on the situation on the ground in Belarus: what are the goals do of the opposition in Belarus and what kind, if any, of strategy does it have for achieving them? How does long-time president Lukashenko see the situation and what is the state’s strategy to try to remain in power? And finally, what roles should the EU and Russia play in a mediation process? Further reading: Why the EU now needs a deliberate Belarus policy, by Andrew Wilson: https://buff.ly/3gomwOl This podcast was recorded on 26 August 2020. Bookshelf: - “Berlin 1936: 16 days in August” by Oliver Hilmes - Follow Tadeusz Giczan for analyses on Belarus - “Lie Machines: How to save democracy from troll armies, deceitful robots, junk news operations, and political operatives” by Philip N. Howard - Collections of essays by Haljand Udam - “Einstein’s dream“ by Alan Lightman Picture: (c) picture alliance / AA | Marina Serebryakova