Vitali Silitski, a renowned scholar and activist, passed away last Saturday
The director of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, and until 2003 associate professor at the European Humanities University in Minsk, where, after criticizing the Belarusian government, he was ousted, died on June 11, 2011, after a year-long battle against cancer. He was a renowned scholar and activist. Michael Allen, editor of Democracy Digest, referred to him using the following words: "While much of his work was focused on the post-Soviet space, a region which has proved to be largely - but not exclusively - inhospitable terrain for democratic transitions, Silitski maintained a stance of cautious optimism that nevertheless rejected simplistic notions of democracy emerging from abrupt regime change or externally-driven political engineering." Quoting Silitski, he said that "the project of promoting democracy is as complex as the world in which it must thrive, and it requires an intelligent and long-term effort that cannot be expected to be equally successful everywhere and at once." The memory of his multiple achievements as a scholar and democracy activist shall remain an inspiration for those of us who keep working hard to support democratic change and more transparent and inclusive political systems around the world.