Security and foreign policy in Poland during transformation.
This guest web log has been produced by Dr. Elzbieta Stadtmuller, Professor of International Studies at the University of Wroclaw and International Visiting Fellow at the Alworth Institute.
Poland has always been situated in a geopolitical dilemma. Historically is has been located between an expansionist West (Germany in one form of another) and an expansionist east (Russia in one form or another). What have been and continue to be the issues facing Poland? How are such issues being resolved during this time of transition and transformation in Eastern Europe?
To understand contemporary Polish policy it is necessary to have a brief look at the historical background. For centuries Poland had a geopolitical dilemma: how to survive between East and West? This dilemma faced the Polish Kingdom till the end of XVIII century; Prussia/Germany and Russia (after the Partitions); Germany and the Soviet Union (after W.W.I). The Yalta/Potsdam decisions, after the Second World War, were a kind of solution to the Polish dilemma, placing Poland in one camp with East Germany and the Soviet Union. However, the real dilemma was not solved because of the artificial friendship with Russia and East Germany and lasting problems with the German-Polish border.
The period of transition, from the 1990s, brought changes in the political landscape around Poland. German unification radically altered the immediate geo-political landscape. The end of the communist block led to an avalanche of new neighbours (from 3 to 7). Russia re-emerged as a ‘new’ state, though what kind of state is still under discussion.
Polish policy had to be reshaped. For the first time in generations Polish foreign policy could be created independently. Hence, priorities were established: membership of the EU and security in the structure of the West (NATO); the best relationships with all neighbours; regional co-operation. This new policy (supported by all political parties and society almost unanimously in the 1990s.) led to real successes. Poland achieved a friendly neighbourhood through legal agreements with all neighbours, and a strategic partnership with Ukraine and Lithuania. Germany interested in making up for past history and in the interests of border stability supported Polish interests with respect to the EU and NATO and as a result was named ‘the best advocate of Polish interests’. Regional structures of co-operation were established (the Baltic Sea Co-operation Council, the Central European Initiative, the Visegrad Group, the CEFTA) and Poland became a member of NATO (April 1999) and the EU (from 2004).
However some problems with the neighbourhood still exist: the historical burden of Polish domination is still felt in the relationships with Ukraine and Lithuania, especially where minority populations are concerned. The historical burden and contemporary problems in the relationship with Germany can resurface (economic fears of either country, disequilibrium of power, and the question of expelled people). As for relations with Russia – who knows? We have here a ‘swinging’ from political manifestations (e.g. NATO, Chechnya, antimissile defence) to attempts at co-operation on the background of historical trauma. The 21st century also opened new questions, on the future of NATO and the EU. Polish policy needs to confront them from the ‘inside’ not the ‘outside’ which is more challenging and leads to controversies among Polish politicians. Should NATO be responsible for actions ‘out of area’; how far should it go in its involvement in Iraq or Afghanistan; how to deal with transatlantic relations; should the EU evolve towards a more unified political body?
But in spite of controversies it is clear that in Polish foreign and security policy security is seen as multidimensional: economic (based on the EU, Eastern neighbours and regional cooperation plus global partners); concerning energy (EU, NATO, neighbours as partners); military (focus on NATO, USA, EU); political (keeping diversity in security tools, preserving a stable, democratic system, developing the EU, Eastern neighbours and regional cooperation); cultural (the EU’s programs but also keeping Poland’s own traditions). In this way also an old dilemma is solved. Germany is a member of the common structures of the West, and common membership in the EU and NATO will protect Poland from standing alone against its economic and political power. Russia is separated from Poland by a barrier of new countries in the East (which need to be supported by Poland) but also it is under pressure from the international community to be more democratic. This traditionally unfortunate location between Germany and Russia could even be transformed into a very good place on the Earth: from a field of bloody battles to an area of transit, trade and investment for both the West and the East. Poland’s recent economic growth may be