Foreign Cultural Policy of the Republic of Belarus: the State and the Problems (Victor Shadursky)

Раздел - "Международные отношения"The article deals with the process of formation and implementation of foreign cultural policy of Belarus in the 1990s. It analyses the establishment of administrative and legal basis for international cultural cooperation of the country and the problems and difficulties which exist in this sphere. Major attention is given in the article to shaping of inter-state relations of the Republic of Belarus in the realm of culture, to the country's participation in the work of UNESCO and other international organizations. The article evaluates the main channels through which cultural cooperation was implemented and describes the role of the state and the public in cultural exchange organisation. Problems and controversy characteristic of the development of cultural relations of Belarus in the last decade are analysed. According to the author, the most serious problem is the extremely slow adaptation of Belarusian society and its elite to the world-wide globalisation process. Alongside with the sovereign right to determine its domestic and foreign policy Belarus had to adopt also the new "rules of the game" in the international arena in political, economic and cultural spheres. While in the Soviet Union Belarus was guaranteed by the decision of the authorities a certain quota in the system of foreign cultural relations, the newly independent state had to win its place in the world's cultural and informational space through fierce competition. The article concludes that Belarusian elite has not succeeded in finding an appropriate answer to the challenge of globalisation and suggesting an effective programme of balanced development of the country to the society. The lack of experience of "free navigation" in the world's cultural and information space was further complicated by economic and political problems. Funding has remained to be residual as it used to be, the material base of cultural institutions has been eteriorating at a rapid rate, etc. At the same time, the article argues that Belarus has witnessed even more tragic periods in its history. The ability of the Belarusian people to adopt and use the achievements of other cultures, while preserving its own national identity even under the most unfavourable conditions, is an unvaluable asset at the current stage