top of page


Paul Hansbury
Jan 196 min read
BELARUS NOTES #9: BALLOTS AND BULLETS
Belarus's dictator hopes next weekend's election will allow him to re-legitimise his grasp on power. Little suggests that will happen.
73 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Nov 1, 20246 min read
THE DICTATORS' BUSINESS
Anne Applebaum's latest book offers a breezy tour of Dictatorland. And it's a chilling read.
64 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Oct 15, 20246 min read
RUSSIA AND IRAN: AN ADDENDUM
A postscript to my previous post. Plus a comment on a submission to the International Criminal Court about Belarus and Georgia's election.
34 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Sep 3, 20244 min read
BELARUS NOTES #8: TROOPS ON THE UKRAINE BORDER
Interpreting a recent escalation along the Belarus-Ukraine border. Is there anything for Ukraine to worry about?
243 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Aug 27, 20246 min read
FRANCE VS. TELEGRAM: IS FREE SPEECH AT RISK?
The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has prompted accusations of a curb on free speech. To my mind, the debate should be about privacy.
176 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Jul 21, 20245 min read
BELARUS NOTES #7: MINSK AND SHANGHAI
Belarus is the first European state to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; Lukashenka's 30 years; and Tsikhanouskaya visits the UK.
62 views1 comment


Paul Hansbury
Jul 3, 20246 min read
WHAT DOES THE UK ELECTION MEAN FOR UKRAINE AND BELARUS?
The United Kingdom goes to the polls this week. Does the result matter at all for Ukrainians and Belarusians?
24 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
May 4, 20246 min read
GEORGIA ON THE BRINK
Georgian protests, Lord Cameron in Ukraine, a scathing US view of the UK army, Belarusian informants... What caught my attention this week.
25 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Apr 21, 20245 min read
REASONS TO CHANGE TACK #4: SPORT AND POLITICS
Why I changed my mind about the relationship between sport and politics, and (reluctantly) support a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes.
30 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Apr 2, 20247 min read
THE BRUTALISATION OF RUSSIA
A few remarks on last month's terrorist attack in Moscow. The treatment of the four suspects is part of the brutalisation of Russia.
34 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Mar 21, 20245 min read
TWO COUNTRIES, TWO DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
Both Ukraine and Belarus have long-standing population worries, which the crises of recent years have exacerbated.
25 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Mar 3, 20246 min read
BELARUS NOTES #6: THE NO VOTE
A few notes on last weekend's elections in Belarus, and some Belarus-related events I've been involved in this past week.
79 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Nov 30, 20235 min read
IS THE CSTO MORE THAN A PAPER TIGER?
Belarus hosted a CSTO summit in Minsk last week. Fractures between members of the military bloc are hard to paper over however.
19 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Nov 18, 20235 min read
BELARUS NOTES #5: TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT
A recent decree will make many Belarusians stateless. The opposition is trying to convince others its New Belarus passport is the solution.
52 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Oct 13, 20236 min read
BELARUS NOTES #4: THE OPPOSITION & THE EU
Open Democracy published a ‘rebuttal’ to my recent article for them. I knew that a response was coming and I welcome the challenge to the...
25 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Sep 23, 20234 min read
NOTEBOOK (SEPTEMBER – PART I)
One of the biggest challenges since I started this blog is that there is so much going on in, or otherwise affecting, eastern Europe and...
11 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Aug 24, 20235 min read
PRIGOZHIN’S DEATH: THE BELARUS ANGLE
After Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenaries marched on Moscow in late June, and then dramatically backed down, one thing was clear – there was...
73 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Jul 10, 20237 min read
NATO, BELARUS AND THE RUSSIAN NUKES
When NATO meets in Vilnius for its annual summit next week, Ukraine will rightly dominate the agenda. The lack of consensus within NATO abou
17 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
Jul 10, 202310 min read
LUKASHENKA AND THE PRIGOZHIN MUTINY
One man unexpectedly came out of last month’s spectacle rather well: Belarus’s dictator, Alyaksandr Lukashenka. What was his role, really?
15 views0 comments


Paul Hansbury
May 30, 20236 min read
BELARUS NOTES #3: SUCCESSION
Speculation surrounded Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s recent disappearance from public. After a six-day absence, he reappeared scrubbed and...
30 views0 comments
bottom of page