Gilbert Doctorow discusses the political unrest in Belarus, where opposition protesters are demanding a new round of elections after President Lukashenko claimed to have won 80% of the vote this most recent time around. Lukashenko has served as president for 26 years, and until now, explains Doctorow, has faced very little opposition. Doctorow says there is good reason to believe that Lukashenko remains popular in Belarus—but probably not popular enough to explain an apparent 80% electoral landslide. As usual there is a faction in American and European politics that supports regime change, particularly with an eye to diminishing the power of Russia, a longtime ally of Belarus. Whether America really is involved is not clear, but Doctorow is adamant that the current situation is not just a repeat of what we saw in Ukraine in 2014, as some are claiming.

Discussed on the show:

• “Belarus: Why the Ongoing Political Unrest Is Unlike Maidan” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “The Ukrainian Template” (Antiwar.com Original)
• “Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call” (BBC News)
• “Belarus protests: Putin ready to send Lukashenko military support” (The Guardian)

Gilbert Doctorow is an independent political analyst and was the European Coordinator of The American Committee for East-West Accord. He writes regularly for Consortium News. His latest book is Does the United States Have a Future?

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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