Belarus

Originally part of Kievan Rus, Belarus was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until the Polish Partitions in the 18th century. After over a hundred years of Russian rule followed by seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. However under authoritarian rule it has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious steps towards implementation have yet to take place. The union has rapidly progressed in 2007 and the future is uncertain about a merger.

As of 2005, the USA has given several overt signs that it wishes to overthrow the Lukashenko government, by supporting opposition parties in elections, e.g. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's high-profile meeting with people from Belarus opposition parties on 21 April 2005. Just as Sudanese or North Korean or Chinese or whatever local authorities would be rather sensitive about USA or Russian non-government organizations supporting local opposition parties, the Belorussian authorities are rather sensitive about foreign organizations encouraging anti-government activity. If you participate in a street demonstration with political banners, expect to be detained within minutes. How fast you get out (24 hours or 24 days) depends on your connections, your social status, etc. The KGB in Belarus has not changed its name since the days of the Soviet Union - it is still called the KGB, and its habits have probably not changed much either. Some ethnic Polish journalists and journalists with Polish citizenship had hassles with the authorities (ranging from refused entry to a dozen or so days in prison) during 2005. If you have a Polish sounding name, better have good evidence that you're not a journalist. Polish and American diplomats have also been accused of espionage and detained by Belarusian authorities in contravention of the Vienna Convention. So if you are a diplomat, you may not be treated in accordance with international law by Belarusian authorities.

In Belarus, there is a big institute and lots of funding for studying the after effects of the Chernobyl disaster, which happened in 1986 in a nuclear power plant on the Ukraine-Belarus border, in the food chain. In principle, food inspectors check food not only for bacterial contamination but also for radiation levels, and except for the banned region within about 50 kilometers of the Chernobyl plant itself and a second hotspot starting from the point where Russia, Ukraine and Belarus all touch each other, and running roughly 100 km to the North of this point, food is considered safe. (please update: if someone has more quantitative information, please provide this; just saying "safe" is rather vague.) Many American nationals have found that food items purchased in nearby Lithuania and then brought by train to Belarus avoid issues of radiological contamination and are more similar in nature to American and Western food quality. In addition, many American nationals are also advised to avoid Belorussian cow's milk for similar reasons.