Strategy&Future

For the Russians, a military tragedy, a catastrophe; for the Poles, a strategic victory; for the Ukrainians, a human and civil tragedy

For centuries, the World Ocean has successfully held back continental powers and dictated the rules on which the world trading system should operate. It therefore held the keys to the prosperity and future of all mankind. The people responsible for the politics of the World Ocean powers made sure that this was never going to change.

Earlier this month, I participated in a debate at a fairly large event, which is the annual Warsaw Security Forum. The debate concerned the shape of the new strategic concept of the North Atlantic Alliance, which would be a document navigating us through increasingly turbulent times. Apart from the moderator and me, the debate was attended by representatives of the NATO bureaucracy and a very famous expert-analyst of international affairs from Germany. In the course of this discussion, something became clear to me and it was ultimately a very sad observation.

The Conceptual Trap of War as a Ballet

Mental maps for the Polish elite in 2021

The biblical story of David leads to several conclusions about the development of weapons and the nature of warfare. New breakthrough technology often feels less advanced than the old.

In the time of Goliath, it was clear and obvious that heavy bronze armour and an iron-tipped spear were the basis of a soldier’s strength.

“Poland from sea to sea” (Polska od morza do morza). This slogan is most often associated with the 16th century and the period of the greatest power of the Polish Republic. And although the question of actual Polish rule over the Black Sea coast is quite complicated and not obvious, this direction has long occupied an important place in the history of our country. Jan Kochanowski in his work entitled “Satyr or Wild Husband” (Satyr albo Dziki mąż) wrote: Tymci Polska urosła, a granice swoje Rozciągnęła szeroko między morza dwoje. “This is how Poland grew, and its borders / Stretched wide between two seas.”

After the recent talks between Blinken and Lavrov, and the US and Germany getting along over Nordstream, we smelled Rapallo. Obviously different than 100 years ago, but the mechanism is similar.

The Last 21 Years: Year (2)018

Any effective strategy (for a country in Poland’s position) requires an understanding of one’s own limitations, both related to the foundations of one’s own power and to the existing obligations of a superpower. Any strategy blindly supporting, for example, democracy and all democracies means a failure to respect and understand the limitations resulting from the fact that even the largest resources are still limited Any strategy blindly supporting, for example, democracy and all democracies means a failure to respect and understand the limitations resulting from the fact that even the largest resources are still limited.

Return to the Republic: The Polish Premier at Wawel