Belarus and sanctions tend to go together in the headlines. In its short twenty-year history, the country has been sanctioned for rigging elections, squashing the opposition, violating human rights, and chocking independent media.
Minsk not only sees nothing wrong with such behavior, but also supports similar violations by other states by providing them with arms and helping them skirt Western embargoes. Though back in the 1990s Belarus was proud of giving up the Soviet nuclear weapons, today it is selling sensitive equipment and technology to states suspected of building nuclear programs.
This week, the United States imposed sanctions on the Belarusian Optical Mechanical Association (BelOMO) and BelTechExport of Belarus for violating the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act. Other violators sanctions were all well-known for illicit trading in missile and weapons of mass destruction technology.