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I.Poland’sForeignPolicyBefore1989
theotherstatesinthebloc,whowereverymuchonthedefensivethemselvesby
then.Inthefaceofthesituationdomestically,thediplomaticeffortspursuedby
Warsawandpredicatedonawayoutofinternationalisolationandostracism
broughtverylimitedeffects.Yetanotherseriesofstrikesinspring1988also
inclinedtheauthoritiestostarttalkswithSolidarity,sleaders.Thenegotiationsulti-
matelyleadingtothe"RoundTable”wereunderwayfromautumn1988onwards.
Yetnobodycouldthenhavedreamedthat,withinayear,thosesamepeoplewho
had"forced”thepowers-that-beinWarsawandMoscowtobringinmartiallaw
wouldthemselvesbetakingresponsibilityforPoland,andwouldbeshapingthe
foreignpolicyofanever-freerandmorefullysovereignRepublic.
3.FOREIGNPOLICYINTHEPROGRAMMES
OFTHEDEMOCRATICOPPOSITION
Thedemocraticoppositionthatwouldbenetfromthestepwisehandoverof
powerfromSeptember1989onwardsdidnothaveaready-madeandcomprehen-
siveprogrammeforthenewPoland,sforeignpolicy.Ofcourse,pre-1989Poland
entirelylackedapoliticaloppositioninthewaythatnormaldemocraticcountries
wouldunderstandtheterm.Anyovertoppositiontothesystemwassimplybanned,
anymanifestationstheremightbebeingcombatedbytheauthorities.Participation
inpubliclifewasthereforeout,aswasthedevelopmentofinternationalcontacts.
Norwerethereanyconditionsunderwhichalternativepoliticalplatformsmight
takeshape.Conceptsrelatingtothenon-existentPolishforeignpolicywereatbest
embryonicandunsystematic.Theirauthorsweresmallgroupsorindividualswho
hadnoopportunitiestoverifytheirreviews,toplacethembeforepublicopinion,
oreventobouncethemoffothermembersoftheillegaldemocraticopposition.
Sometimesthoseinvolvedwerecompletelyanonymous,makingtheirideasknown
viatheundergroundpress.Theirconceptsorstandpointsasregardsparticularprob-
lemscouldnotevenbeclassedasattemptstoforecastfutureforeignpolicy,since
nothingcouldallowanyonetobelievethatthePeople,sRepubliccouldcollapse
rapidlyandgivewaytoanindependentPoland,letalonethatthewholecommunist
blocmightfall.Communism,sdeclinetowardsextinctionwasquitecapableoftak-
ingdecadestoachieve,anditwashardtoconceiveofapost-ColdWarworldwithno
EastandWest,inotherwordshardtoimaginethefutureinternationalenvironment
ofPolandtowhichanyforeseenforeignpolicywouldhavetomakereference.
Ofcourse,allofthisdidnotmeanthattherewerenocirclesatallinPoland
orinexilepreparedtotackleaspectsofforeignpolicyofafuture(oreventhe
contemporary)Poland.Afterall,certainissueswereconsideredtohaveaficted
Polishpolicymoreorlessconstantly.Intheearlydays,independentPolishpoliti-
calthoughtcouldonlydevelopabroad.Theabsoluterepressionandevenphysical
eliminationofpoliticalopponentsintheStalinisterabroughtaboutthedisappear-