scholarly journals Dilemmas of Poland’s foreign and security policies in the post-Cold War period in the context of its geopolitical location between Russia and Germany

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 45-108
Author(s):  
Mieczysław Stolarczyk
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
21St Century ◽  
International System ◽  
Security Policies ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Direct Invasion ◽  
Polish Foreign

The research objective of this paper is the presentation of the influence (significance) of the geopolitical factor in Poland’s relations with the Russian Federation (Russia) and the Federal Republic of Germany (Germany) in the post-Cold War period, first and foremost the influence on the shares of convergent and divergent (contradictory) interests of Poland and the two countries, as well as relevant dilemmas concerning Poland’s foreign and security policies. The main research thesis is that the geopolitical factor remains one of the chief determinants of Poland’s relations with Russia and Germany despite the changes taking place in the international system (e.g. the acceleration of globalisation processes) in the last few decades. In the post-Cold War period, however, it affected Poland’s relations with Russia in a much more negative way than it did the Polish-German relations. The German problem in its traditional sense of a hazard source diminished considerably in the Polish foreign policy in the abovementioned period, while the significance of the Russian problem increased. The decision makers of the Polish foreign policy viewed Germany first and foremost as a partner and an ally (within NATO), while Russia was seen as the main hazard to Polish security, including a military hazard in the form of a direct invasion. Wishing to present more detailed matters, the paper brings to the fore i.a. the issues concerning the essence of the geopolitical factor in the foreign policies of countries, certain conditions of Poland’s geopolitical location in the post-Cold War period, the main stages of Poland’s relations with Germany and Russia in that period together with their characteristics, the main areas of divergent interests in Poland’s relations with Germany and Russia in the second decade of the 21st century, the similarities and differences in Poland’s policy toward Germany and Russia in the post-Cold War period as well as the main dilemmas of the Polish foreign policy toward the end of the second decade of the 21st century stemming from Poland’s geopolitical location between Russia and Germany. One main conclusion formulated on the basis on those deliberations is that Poland’s geopolitical location between Russia and Germany does not doom Polish relations with the two countries to a confrontational nature for historical reasons. The geopolitical factor is not an independent prime mover; it does not entail geopolitical determinism which automatically eliminates the possibility of influencing Poland’s geopolitical situation by subsequent Polish governments. The geopolitical location does not determine eternal enemies or eternal friends because one can derive various conceptions, programmes and objectives of the foreign policy from the same geopolitical location of Poland.

1. Theories of US foreign policy

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
International System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Offensive Realism ◽  
Defensive Realism ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter examines some of the competing theories that have been advanced to explain U.S. foreign policy. In trying to explain the foreign policy of the United States, a number of competing theories have been developed by International Relations scholars. Some theories focus on the role of the international system in shaping American foreign policy while others argue that various domestic factors are the driving force. The chapter first considers some of the obstacles to constructing a theory of foreign policy before discussing some of the competing theories of American foreign policy, including defensive realism, offensive realism, liberalism, Marxism, neoclassical realism, and constructivism. The chapter proceeds by reviewing the theoretical debate over the origins of the Cold War and the debate over the most appropriate grand strategy that the United States should follow in the post-Cold War era.

The foreign policy options of a small unrecognised state: the case of Abkhazia

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Thomas Frear
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Universal Principle ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
The World ◽  
Systemic Understanding

The study of international relations has historically focused on the activities of large, powerful states, dismissing the smaller entities of the international system as unimportant or merely objects of policy for the larger entities. This truism extends especially to those entities that exist in an unrecognised or partially recognised limbo, neither a full part of the international system nor an ungoverned space. Yet in the post-Cold War world, following the dissolution of large multi-national states such as the USSR, these entities have begun to proliferate. This proliferation provides a significant challenge to an international system in which the primary participants are states, and to the institutions created to oversee their interaction. Unrecognised entities, existing outside of this framework, represent a threat to the universal principle of sovereignty, that one true institutionalised aspect of international relations. As such the study of these entities and their interaction with the world outside their borders is a study important for a systemic understanding of contemporary international relations. This article aims to address the foreign policy of one such entity, Abkhazia.

Poland's foreign policy since 1989: the challenges of independence

2000 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Meiklejohn Terry
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Central European ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Polish Foreign ◽  
The Eu

In its first decade of post-communist independence, Poland achieved far more than most dared believe in 1989. Despite domestic political and economic turmoil, it has joined Europe as a new member of NATO and a prospective member of the EU. This article traces the evolution of Polish foreign policy since 1989 over four time periods: First, the early uncertainties from 1989 to 1992 when Warsaw — caught between a reunifying Germany and a collapsing USSR — was intent on solidifying its relations with Central European neighbors. Second, the watershed year of 1993, which witnessed changes in every aspect of Poland's external relations — the demise of Visegrad, first moves toward NATO and EU enlargement, the emergence of serious tensions in Warsaw's relations with the East, especially Russia. Third, the years in the anterooms of Europe from 1994 to 1996, when Poland and its central European neighbors lobbied for early accession to the EU and NATO, while relations with Russia remained in the deep freeze. And fourth, the period since 1997, in which Warsaw has been negotiating its “return to Europe”, joining NATO in 1999 and actively pursuing membership in the EU. These gains have not come quickly or easily; rather, they demonstrate a hard earned consistency in Poland's foreign policy agenda, despite numerous changes in domestic politics, as well as an increasingly realistic vision of the country's place in post-Cold War Europe.

scholarly journals India´'s Place in the Foreign Policy of Brazil: the multilateral nexus

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 488-498
Author(s):  
Mauricio Santoro Rocha
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International System ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Emerging Nations ◽  
Current Period ◽  
Multilateral Organizations ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
The 1960S

Cooperation between Brazil and India in multilateral organizations goes back to the 1960s, with common positions in several United Nations´ agencies and in the GATT. In the current period, post-Cold War, it has been the strongest characteristic of the relation among both countries, with partnerships in many global fora, such as BRICS, G4, G20, BASIC, and IBSA, with common goals of reforming the international system in order to attend the demands of emerging nations. This affinity – the multilateral nexus - creates possibilities for Brazilian foreign policy regarding an Asia on the rise, including the opportunity for some balancing for the growing influence of China.       Recebido em: janeiro/2019. Aprovado em: dezembro/2019.

scholarly journals Diplomacy and Security

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 251-255
Author(s):  
Ștefan Pop
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International System ◽  
Transnational Corporations ◽  
Nonstate Actors ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Cold War Era

Abstract Changes in diplomacy are especially visible by the involvement of many new actors in the area of international cooperation. A fast developing international system opened doors to many new actors, including international organizations, transnational corporations, and important interest groups.Diplomacy that, from the middle of the 15th century, was known as an important tool of foreign policy became wider in the post-Cold War era. In fact, the transformation of diplomacy has not been completed yet. Nowadays, for instance, governmental diplomacy must deal with various nonstate actors that shape its agenda.

scholarly journals The Beginning of the Post-modern Geopolitical Epoch and the Peculiarities of the System of Contemporary International Relations in the 21st Century

2019 ◽  
pp. 111-118
Author(s):  
George Zviadadze
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
21St Century ◽  
International System ◽  
World Order ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Order System ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The World ◽  
Characteristic Features

After transformation of unipolarity and reformatting world order system, a question been forwarded on how new system is to be founded on. As it is known classical international relations system developed since Westphalia Agreement of 1648 has been composed mainly by the state as key actors of international politics. The system has been developed two type of regimes: soft bipolarity and balance of power interchanged in several period of time consequently. One of the characteristic features of globalization is a fundamental change of the international system and world order. It differs from the world of post-Cold War period with the stance of different actors of international relations on each other as well as with the forms of sharing power and that of interconnections. In that context there were four phases of the international relations systems: the system of Westphalia, the system of Vienna, the system of Versailles, the system of Yalta-Potsdam and later international relations were transformed into bipolarity one. Since demolishing classical Cold War order and entering into new epoch of anarchic scenario, the states as key actors of the system have been diminishing in favour of so-called “nonstate actors”. However, in the international system of the 21st century, the nationstate still has particular functions. It represents the dominant element of the world politics which can influence the behaviour of the population and non-state actors.

scholarly journals AXES OF WORLD POWER IN THE 21ST CENTURY: AN ANALYTICAL PROPOSAL

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Fagundes Visentini
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Population Size ◽  
21St Century ◽  
International System ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Transformational Process ◽  
World Power

The ranking of the hierarchy and grouping of World Powers is not based exclusively on material indicators such as economics, natural resources, territorial extension, population size and military resources. It is necessary to consider the stage in which the transformational process of the post-Cold War International System is, the position in which a power stands, and general and specific historical trends. The present article proposes a classification that identifies the existence of four axes of world power: 1) the Anglo-Saxon military-rentier; 2) the semi-sovereign industriallydeveloped; 3) the semi-peripheral industrially-emergent; and 4) the agrarian, mineral and demographic peripheral.

Hans Morgenthau's Realism and American Foreign Policy

1997 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 253-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
International System ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hans Morgenthau

As the father of the realist theory of international relations, Hans Morgenthau consistently argued that international politics is governed by the competitive and conflictual nature of humankind. Myers discusses the history of U.S. foreign policy and the ongoing debate over the continued relevance of realist thought in the post-Cold War era. He argues that despite vast changes in the international system, realism remains relevant as an accurate description of human nature and hence of the interactions among nations. Analyzing Morgenthau's Politics Among Nations, Myers provides a point-by-point discussion of his theory. He concludes by stating that the relevance of realism will be seen particularly in the search for a new balance of power in the post-Cold War world.

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