Poland versus Russia: Competition in Ukraine

2020 ◽  
pp. 088832542095080
Author(s):  
Andrzej Szeptycki
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Multiple Channels ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The North ◽  
Eastern Border ◽  
Bilateral Cooperation ◽  
International Identity ◽  
Realist Concept

This study analyses relations in the triangle Poland–Russia–Ukraine since 2004, bringing an insightful perspective to the realist concept of competition in international relations. For the last sixteen years, despite their unequal power, Poland and Russia have competed in Ukraine. This competition involves not only a fight for influence (quite limited in the case of Poland), but also in respect of the political and economic model that is to be implemented in Ukraine and its international identity. Poland wants Ukraine to become “European”: stable, democratic, and with a free market economy, to secure the eastern border of Poland, and to limit Ukraine’s dependence on Russia. This policy is executed both through bilateral cooperation and the Euro-Atlantic institutions, especially the European Union (EU). Russia, on the other hand, wants Ukraine to keep its post-Soviet identity. An authoritarian and corrupted Ukraine, remaining culturally a part of the “Russian world,” is perceived as guaranteeing Russian interests there, in particular in the context of the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance and EU towards the East. For this reason, Russia aims at impeding the development of Polish–Ukrainian cooperation. Until 2014 Russia was largely successful in realizing its agenda thanks to the multiple channels of dependence existing between it and Ukraine. However, since the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of the Russian war against Ukraine, the latter has engaged in a clearly discernible, though uncertain, path to Europeanization, which may favor the implementation of the Polish scenario for Ukraine.

Changing Partners at Fifty? French Security Policy after Libya in Light of the Élysée Treaty

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colette Mazzucelli
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Charles De Gaulle ◽  
The North ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Bilateral Cooperation ◽  
European Partner ◽  
De Gaulle

The 2011 Libya campaign highlighted the divergence of interests between France and Germany within the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in matters of Middle East and global security. This divergence calls for a reassessment of the meaning of their bilateral cooperation, as defined in the Treaty of Friendship between France and Germany, otherwise known as the Élysée Treaty, signed on 22 January 1963 by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and President Charles de Gaulle. This article focuses on France, which engaged militarily in Libya cooperating with the United Kingdom as its principal European partner. Germany, for reasons explained by its history, political culture, and the nature of its federal system, chose to abstain in the United Nations vote to authorize the campaign. These differences between France and Germany suggest a contrast in their respective security and, particularly defense, policy objectives on the fiftieth anniversary of the Élysée Treaty.

Kryzys w Unii Europejskiej a tożsamość europejska

2016 ◽  
pp. 110-136
Author(s):  
Zbigniew B. Rudnicki
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Model ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Social Model ◽  
Gradual Development ◽  
Internal Relations ◽  
International Identity

The aim of this article is to show what impact the crisis in the European Union, along with the crisis in the euro zone at the forefront, had on European identity, interwoven with the identity of the European Union to such an extent that these terms are often handled as equivalent. Developments and crises situations which exert an influence on European identity were presented with respect to areas of particular importance that affect the way the European Union is identified within the community and abroad. Following issues were discussed: implications of the crisis for the European Union’s international identity, for the European social model (welfare state), for transnational identity (in internal relations) and for unity and solidarity in the European Union. In the conclusion, it is stated that the economic, political and social crises had undermined the gradual development of European / European Union identity among citizens and had an impact on its image in international relations.

scholarly journals Comparative Aspects Regarding The Regulation Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 424-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florin Fainisi ◽  
Victor Al. Fainisi
Keyword(s):  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Chicago Convention ◽  
The North ◽  
Aerial Vehicles ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Military ◽  
Legislative Measures

Abstract The technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) has constantly developed in the last decade, becoming a key feature of the military programs and operations in Europe and the US, and the industry market has considerably grown. The vast majority of this growth is at the US level, whose military budget is bigger than of any other state in the world. On the other hand, with respect to the civil market, the sale of these kinds of aircrafts is in its initial stages, even though there are lots of fields in which it can be applied. In general, the states have begun to take legislative measures so that the unmanned flight of such an aircraft in areas open to civil aircrafts is controlled, so that any danger to the civil aircrafts should be avoided. The countries of the European Union that have not legislated this field are subject to Regulation 216/2008/EC regarding common norms in the civil aviation field and the Chicago Convention. Furthermore, all EU states are NATO members and thus apply in principle the norms established by the North-Atlantic Organization.

scholarly journals The Role of Nuclear Weapons in NATO’s Early Cold War Strategies (1949–1957)

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-120
Author(s):  
Petra Kiss
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
The United States ◽  
Strategic Thinking ◽  
Atomic Weapons ◽  
The North ◽  
Significant Factors

Since August 1945 atomic weapons have become significant factors in international relations, every state with great ambitions has aspired to get atomic secrets. The primary goal of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) created in 1949 was – possessing the United States’, a nuclear power’s, security guarantee – to deter the Soviet agression. The first strategic documents of the Alliance were written with this very purpose. However, in the 1950s there was a shift in the allied nations’ policies, which influenced NATO’s strategic thinking as well, so in 1957 a real different strategic concept was adopted. Gaining technological superiority became the most important goal, which led to development and intense production of nuclear weapons. This article examines the emerging role of nuclear weapons and the changing strategy of the Alliance between 1949 and 1957.

2. The European Union as a Subsystem of International Relations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Duke ◽  
Sophie Vanhoonacker
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
The World ◽  
International Identity ◽  
Theoretical Pluralism ◽  
Collective Actor

This chapter focuses on the European Union as a subsystem of international relations. It examines the following questions, taking into account the historical context in which EU foreign policy has developed as well as the theoretical pluralism that has characterized its study. First, how has the EU dealt with its own international relations internally? Second, what are the ideas and principles underlying EU foreign policy? Third, what is the EU's collective action capacity in relation to the rest of the world? The chapter illustrates interstate dynamics as a result of European integration by focusing on the cases of France, Germany, and Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). It also considers the EU's international identity and its role as a collective actor.

Part II Commentaries to Typical Sofa Rules, 31 Territorial Applicability

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burkhardt Frank
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
General Rule ◽  
North Atlantic Region ◽  
Atlantic Region ◽  
The North ◽  
Legal Problems ◽  
Unilateral Declaration ◽  
The North Atlantic

This chapter deals with territorial applicability of status-of-forces agreements (SOFAs). The territorial applicability of the UN Model SOFA is limited to the area of operation. NATO SOFA applies only in ‘the metropolitan territory’ of any Party which may, however, extend its applicability by unilateral declaration to ‘any of the territories for whose international relations it is responsible in the North Atlantic Treaty area’. While the territorial applicability of the UN Model SOFA does not raise any particular problems, the limitation of the territorial applicability of NATO SOFA appears to be more complex. Yet it does not create impediments to the solution of legal problems resulting from the Alliance’s enlargement and its operations. It can be summarized that as a general rule NATO SOFA applies on the territories of the Parties of the North Atlantic Treaty and to NATO operations in the North Atlantic region north of the Tropic of Cancer.

Understanding Putin: The politics of identity and geopolitics in Russian foreign policy discourse

2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Russian Foreign Policy ◽  
Politics Of Identity ◽  
The West ◽  
Security Vulnerabilities ◽  
The North ◽  
Narrow View ◽  
The North Atlantic

Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the subsequent deterioration in its relations with the West have led many analysts to adopt a narrow view of Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy motivations, chalking them up to old-school geopolitics. This paper makes the case that the traditional structural explanations for Russian foreign policy that are dominant within the discipline of international relations do not adequately consider the influence of identity in Putin’s emerging foreign policy narrative. Putin’s narrative is shaped by, and shapes, a discourse about cultural and historical ties with Russian borderlands, as well as by the cultural and security vulnerabilities generated by the West’s treatment of Russia, evidenced by the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This discourse has underscored a more militant foreign policy turn under Putin in which he is prepared to protect and defend Russia’s interests at high cost; Russia’s actions in Crimea exemplify this. This connection between identity and foreign policy in Putin’s Russia demands attention if we hope to gain a better grasp of Russian foreign policy under his leadership.

Power, Preferences, or Ideas? Explaining West Germany's Armaments Strategy, 1955–1972

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H. Creswell ◽  
Dieter H. Kollmer
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
The North ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Procurement Strategy ◽  
Weapons Procurement ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Procurement Strategies

Which major theory of international relations—neorealism, liberalism, or constructivism—best explains states' weapons procurement strategies? This article addresses that question by examining the case of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) during the Cold War. Through an in-depth analysis of the FRG's armaments strategy from the time the country was admitted into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1955 until the early 1970s, the article demonstrates that although ideas and external security concerns did play a role, economic concerns won out more often than not. IR scholars must therefore account for a variety of factors when attempting to explain the FRG's weapons procurement strategy during this period. Neorealism, liberalism, and constructivism are useful in thinking about West Germany's purchases of weapons, but none of the three theories is adequate on its own.

scholarly journals United States Joins with Allies, Including NATO, to Attribute Malicious Cyber Activities to China

2021 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-721
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The North ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Made In

In July, the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU), and other allies attributed a variety of malicious cyber activities, including the Microsoft Exchange hack, to China. This joint attribution builds on commitments made in June summits with NATO, the G7, the EU, and the United Kingdom, and is consistent with the Biden administration's multilateral approach to confronting cybersecurity threats and China more generally. Still, critics question whether the administration's efforts will succeed in altering the behavior of states that pose cybersecurity threats to the United States.

scholarly journals Polish Take on Realism: Poland’s Policy Towards the Former Soviet Countries, 1991–2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-145
Author(s):  
A. Szeptycki
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Realist Theory ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
States History ◽  
Post Soviet Space

This article analyzes Poland’s policy towards the former Soviet space (Poland’s Eastern policy) through the assumptions of the realist theory of international relations. The fi rst part of the article examines the realist theory in international relations (IR). The second – deals with the existing literature on Poland’s foreign policy. The third part analyses the determinants and the goals of Poland’s policy towards the post-Soviet states (history of its relations with the region, ideological determinants, security concerns, etc.). The last part inquires about the evolution of Poland’s policy till current times. The Russian Federation is perceived as a signifi cant threat by Poland. In that context, since the early 1990s, Poland has been seeking solutions to strengthen its security. It aimed to join the North Atlantic Alliance and establish a close partnership with the United States (bandwagoning). This strategy brought substantial eff ects – in 1999, Poland joined NATO, and since it has hosted allied troops. Poland also wanted to develop cooperation with Ukraine (to a lesser degree also with its other post-Soviet neighbors) and bring them closer to the Euro-Atlantic structures. This policy was, in particular, at weakening Russia’s infl uence in the region (balancing). The results of this strategy have been somewhat ambiguous, though. Ukraine has rejected Russia’s sponsored reintegration projects in the post-Soviet space. The process of reforms in that country, however, is slow and uncertain. As for other post-Soviet states, Poland has largely proven unable to infl uence the desired changes.

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