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INTRODUCTION
ThetaskofwritingaboutPolishforeignpolicyfrom1989onwardsisasreward-
ingasitisdifficult.Itisarewardingtask,becausethewaythesaidpolicyhasbeen
pursuedunderthecircumstancesofthecountry,sThirdRepublic1representsan
unquestionedsuccessstory,mostespeciallywhensetagainstthebackgroundof
earlierdecades,oreventhewholeperiodofthelasttwo–threecenturies.Thatsuc-
cessseemsallthegreaterwhenwelookbackonthedifficultstartingpointatwhich
theThirdRepublicfounditself.Yet,thosetoughconditionsnotwithstanding,ithas
infactbeenPolishforeignpolicyofallpoliciesthathasprobablyprovedcapable
ofachievingmost.Forthepolicyhasbothreflected–andefficientlygiveneffectto
–nationalinterests,whileboththeobjectivesandthewaysthesewere"madeflesh”
haveprovedequaltothetaskofmeetingpublicexpectations.Furthermore,thepol-
icyinquestionhasgenerallybeenwellreceivedabroad,notablyamongPoland,s
alliesinNATOanditspartnersintheEuropeanUnion.From1989onwards,it
provedpossibleforPolandto(re)assumerelativelyquicklyaplaceofsignificance
inEurope,becomingarespectedpartnerininternationalnegotiationswithinthe
region,intheEuro-Atlanticzoneasawhole,andevenbeyondit.
Thetaskinhandisatthesametimeatoughone,becauseagreatdealhashap-
penedinbothforeignpolicyandPoland,sinternationalenvironment,overwhat
hasactuallybeenarathershortperiodoftime.Ourcountryhasbeenkeentocatch
upwithallspeed,achievinginitsforeignpolicywhatotherstookdecadestodo.
Furthermore,asthiscatching-uphasappliedtoallspheresofPolishdiplomacy
simultaneously,ithasnecessitateduntoldnumbersofpositions,meetingsand
negotiations,leadingtomassesofagreementsinitialled,signedandratified.We
havebeendealingwitheventspresentingthemselvessothickandfastthatasingle,
relativelyshortsynthesiswrittentodayissimplyunabletorenderthatsheerwealth
offoreignpolicycontent,orindeedthefulldynamicoftheongoingprocesses.In
truth,inevitably,abooklikethiscandolittlemorethanscratchthesurfaceofall
thathasbeengoingon,astheauthorisacutelyaware–allthemoresosince,for
morethantenyearsfrom1990onwards,itwashisgreatprivilegetoworkinthe
foreignserviceoftherebornRepublicofPoland.Theauthorislikewisereconciled
tojusthowlimitedmaybethecapacityoftheprintedwordtoconveywhatliesat
thecoreoftheprocessknownasforeignpolicy,justhowmanyimportantandinter-
estingissues,discussions,doubtsanddisputeswillneverseethelightofday.
1Inthe1997ConstitutionoftheRepublicofPoland,theterm‘ThirdRepublic,isemployedinrefer-
encetopost-1989Poland.