ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses Belarus' prolonged entry into international society. It exposes that prolonged socio-historical process through which Belarus has been trying to carve itself out as a sovereign member of the international society. The chapter provides an introduction into the historical setting with a general timeline. It examines the different guises of the suzerain past that appeared along the way, as well as the politics of memory used to repress that past or – in some cases – on the contrary, to reinforce it. The roots of Belarus' historical trajectory can be traced more than a thousand years back to the Early Middle Ages. The chapter demonstrates how the memory of the Polatsk Duchy became a cornerstone for challenging the Russian narrative. In 1991 Belarus was pushed by the nationalist movement towards internationally recognized independence, thus entering what can be called the 'outer tier' of European international society.
