Russian expert: Belarus’ role in international arena grew tremendously in 2024

The role of Belarus in the international arena has grown tremendously this year – as noted by Alexander Stepanov, the Programme Director of the Academy of Political Sciences (Russia), during the Minsk-Moscow Union State live streaming. The expert noted the importance of the fact that Belarus was the first Eastern European country to join the initially Asian integration project of the SCO.

“SCO is not just a ‘club of interests’, but a real structure that deals with security issues and the fight against international terrorism, among other things,” the Russian expert stressed. “And Belarus will play its very important role in this organisation as a truly Eastern European state located between integration platforms. In particular, BRICS, the European Union, NATO, which is now becoming more active, and it is the European theatre of military operations that is turning into a very serious industrial platform today.”

According to the political analyst, the entire European industry is now switching on a wartime footing, civilian production is being closed, and investments in the military-industrial complex are actively underway.

“We are witnessing a serious stage of confrontation, the formation of a multipolar polycentric world, as Vladimir Putin said, polyphonic, because the voices of all continents are heard. And this restructuring process will be associated with local zones of severe turbulence. Because separate integration projects are beginning to overlap. In this regard, a vivid example is the desire of Turkiye (a NATO member) to join BRICS. There is a certain cognitive dissonance here, but nevertheless it shows that Ankara sees BRICS as a promising platform that can become global,” Alexander Stepanov emphasised.