The Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS) and the website of the expert community “Our Opinion” are launching a joint analytical project “Blitz-commentaries”.
A blitz-commentary is a quick (two or three days after an event) expert analysis of a sociopolitical event. The structure of a “blitz” is modeled on the “Analyses” by the Centre for Eastern Studies in Warsaw and is very simple. It consists of two main parts: description and commentary.
In the descriptive part, you can find a brief description of the very event: what, where and how?
In the commentative (interpretative) part, you get a competent explanation of what the event means in a wider context. In this part, a qualified expert indicates probable causes (factors) of the event and its possible consequences, reconstructs the intentions of the main actors involved in the event, and assesses their chances of achieving their goals.
Sometimes, in addition to the descriptive and commentary parts, there will also be a historical background sketched: what events preceded this event or what were the analogues of the events in the recent history of the country.
Blitz-commentaries are a type of “economical expertise”. The basic idea is that politicians, activists, diplomats, experts and other interested parties have an opportunity, within 5-10 minutes, to receive reliable information about the event and get acquainted with a competent, refined in the course of internal expert discussions, answer to the question: What does this event mean?
Over October — December 2018, BISS published five pilot blitz-commentaries in Russian, Belarusian and English, and then the teams of BISS and Our Opinion agreed to issue them on a regular basis as a joint analytical product.
The estimated frequency of blitz-commentaries is 2-4 issues per month. "Blitzes" will be published both on the website of BISS and that of Our Opinion, in html and pdf-versions. Until we find funding for the project, we will probably not be able to deliver English versions regularly, but we are planning to publish in English at least occasionally.
The first blitz-commentary within the joint project concerns the relations between Belarus and the United States and was prepared by the well-known political scientist Andrei Kazakevich. You can read the blitz on BISS or Our Opinion website.
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Info on Our Opinion
The Our Opinion website is one of the oldest analytical project in Belarus, a media platform that brings together over one hundred independent experts and ten research centres for competent assessments and analysis of politics, economics and social processes. Our Opinion's website www.nmnby.eu
Previous (pilot) blitz-commentaries by BISS:
Форум крытыкі і дыялогу (пра Мінскі форум): 28 лістапада 2018.
The Forum of Criticism and Dialogue (on Minsk Forum): November 28, 2018.
CSTO summit in Astana: A mixed picture of cohesion: 16 октября 2018.
Беларусь и Украина: неизбежная любовь: 2 ноября 2018.
Кейс Dzieciuk’ов: белорусская милиция взялась искать экстремизм в интернете: 17 октября 2018.
Севярынец, Кавалькова і светапоглядныя зрухі ў БХД: 9 октября 2018.