384 SEER, 82, 2, 2004 collection of historicalpieces, which it is extremely useful now to have in one place. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ANDREW WILSON University College London Korosteleva, E. A, Lawson C. W. and Marsh, R. J. (eds). Contemporagy Belarus: Between Dictatorship andDemocracy. RoutledgeCurzon, London and New York,2003. XVii+ 20I pp. Tables. Notes. Index. ?550.o. THEneed fornew literatureon contemporaryBelarushaslong been apparent. Some readersmight express surprisethat, in terms of the subtitleof the book under review, Belarus is described as 'between dictatorship and democracy', but the assembled authors make a good case for their title, seeking to investigate the real roots of President Lukashenka'spopularity at the same time as giving due weight to his flagrantabusesof power. Two of the best chapters,byJan Zaprudnikand David Marples,breaknew ground in terms of historical background. Perceptionsof Belarusianidentity depend very much on when the clock is set ticking. If the story begins with Polatska-Rus'or the supposedlySlavic GrandDuchy of Lithuania/Litva, then the Belarusiansare a centralEuropean (and GreekCatholic)nation emerging from two hundred years (I795-199 ) of Russo-Soviet repression.If the story begins in the 1940S then a Soviet Belorussian nation was created almost ex nihilo,albeit by drawing on earlier versions of original common East Slavic Orthodox identity. The trouble faced by Belarusiannationalistssince I99I is not that the firstversion of Belarusian history is implausible, but that it has little to say to the life experiences of the vast majority of the population, dominated by the twin myths of wartime sufferingand victory, and post-war reconstruction.Marplesisparticularlyacuteon the importanceto Lukashenka of the 'myth of Masherau', head of the local Communist Partyfrom I965 to I980, which 'largely defines the limitations of political change in the postSoviet republic' and also of the fact that Lukashenka'seconomic policies have free-rodeon the physical inheritanceof the Masherauera (p. 24). In a similar fashion, the chapters on modern politics trace Lukashenka's exploitation of pre-existing trends in I994, and sensibly emphasize the mistakes made by the opposition in abandoning the moral high ground by engaging in tricksof theirown duringtheir'alternative'elections held in I999. The book has only a postscripton Lukashenka'sbelated 're-election'in 2001, but there is a sensiblenote of criticismfor the USA, which set its expectations too high and backed a misdirected opposition campaign on the assumption that Lukashenkacould actually be unseated (he claimed 75.6 per cent of the vote to his nearestopponent Uladzimir Hancharyk's I5.4 per cent). Colin Lawson seeksto make a counterfactualcase that Belaruswould have benefitedfromthe marketreformsitlargelyavoided after I996. In her chapter on the proposed Russo-BelarusianUnion, Anastasia Nesvetailova is surprisingly optimistic that 'the 2000 change in Russia'spolitical leadership and the resultingreconsiderationof the Union's politico-economic frameworkdo look promising for Belarus' (p. I62), claiming that Russia is 'effectivelytaking up REVIEWS 385 the burden of economic adjustmentin Belarus'(p. I63), but ratherdownplaying the growing pressure from the Kremlin to sharply reduce debt pardon, energy subsidies and the like. Denis Krivoshev sensibly indicates the contingent factors that have fuelled Belarus' foreign policy 'Russophilia'. Teresa Dumasy agreesthat 'forBelarus[. . .] alliancewith Russia may alwaysremain a greaterprioritythan forUkraine'and notes that 'EU policy mustbe sensitive to such national differences' (p. I90); but both authors stress that this predominant relationshipis not as exclusive as it appears. The volume is one of at leastthree new books about to come out on Belarus. It sets a good standardfor the othersto follow, and will be a boon to students and scholarsalike. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies ANDREW WILSON University College London Pesonen, Perttiand Riihinen, Olavi. Dynamic Finland.ThePoliticalSystem andthe Welfare State.StudiaFennica.Historica, 3. SK FinnishLiteratureSociety, Helsinki, 2002. 323 PP. Maps. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. ?32.00 (paperback). ON the cover, it says that this book has been written for a general audience. Even so, specialistscan learn a lot from the authors,too. They have produced quite a comprehensive work, written in good and clear Englishin a style that flows. Though to a degree the book is a history, the essential configurations are institutionaland conceptual. Nationalism, the legislature,the stilldualistic executive, thejudicial organs, local self-government,the welfare state, values and goals, the state and economics, the ubiquitousEU you can get straight at them, though...