This book is a joint project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Heinrich Böll Foundation and comes in the wake of two conferences – one in Warsaw, Poland, another in Bratislava, Slovakia – which examined recent developments in Belarus. This volume brings together contributions from democracy activists, analysts, policy makers and opinion leaders from Belarus, Europe and North America who share a deep concern about the prospects for democracy in Belarus. With the recent eastward enlargement of the European Union, Belarus has become a direct neighbor of this community of democratic states. Yet its own domestic path of development has led the country further and further away from democratic norms, respect for human rights and fruitful cooperation with the international community. The recent presidential elections on March 19, 2006, the vote-rigging that accompanied them and the subsequent police brutality against peaceful protesters have once again highlighted the nature of the current regime in Belarus, and have further isolated the country. By contrast, neighboring Ukraine reaffirmed its commitment to democracy with free and fair parliamentary elections on March 26, 2006 offering an example of what can be accomplished.