The Union State and the Union Economy: Political Economy of Russian-Belarusian Cooperation

Abstract

Against the background of political instability in Belarus and unsuccessful attempts to “deepen integration” in 2019-2020, the political economy of Russian-Belarusian cooperation as a subject of study goes far beyond academic interest and is of great practical importance. The article suggests that explanation of the integration difficulties in inside the nature of the existing Belarusian political and economic model, which becomes the main object of analysis. By analogy with the political economic model of “Putinomics” by С.Miller and the results of a comparative analysis, the political economic model of “Lukashenomics” and its main strategies (centralization of power, a high level of social obligations, state control of the economy, extraction of “political rent” from relations with Russia and the priority statehood over state solvency) are explained. On the basis of the model of resilience and stability of state systems developed earlier by the author as part of the team, the influence of the “Lukashenomics” on the resilience and stability of the state system of Belarus is determined. The fundamental incompatibility of the existing Belarusian and Russian political economic models is revealed and the prospects for the development of Russian-Belarusian relations in the context of possible scenarios for the transformation of the Belarusian model are determined.