Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
8
Introduction
Nevertheless,thetimeisnowrightforsomefirstattemptsatanoverallencapsu-
lationofThird-Republicforeignpolicy.Thisissobecauseofthenumberofyears
thathavenowpassedsince1989,butalsoonaccountofthesheersignificanceof
whathasbeenachieved.Furthermore,thetimeisripeforsuchworkbecausethemost
recentperiodhasseentheemergenceofattitudestothepost-1989foreignpolicy
thatrangefrommisunderstanding,viamisinformation,throughtooccasionalquite
radicalattemptsatdisavowal.Ingeneral,theissuehasbecomeamatterofdispute,
orindeedpoliticalconflict.Ofcourse,itisonlyrightandproperthateverysphere
ofpubliclifeorstatepolicy–pastorpresent–beleftopentoquestion.Indeed,
bothdoubtsandcriticalanalysesareinorder,buttheyoughttobebasedaround
afamiliaritywiththesubject,andbebereftofideologicalprejudice.Incontrast,the
mainimpressiontobegainedfromwhatweinfactwitnessisthatanysharpercriti-
cismofPolishdiplomacyisprimarilymotivatedbythefactthatthecriticswerenot
themselvesinvolvedineitherthatpolicy,screationoritsimplementation.
Yet,forallthecriticalpotshotsnowbeingtakenatThird-Republicforeignpolicy
(andwritersarecertainlynotholdingbackfromtheirrighttoengageincriticism),
therehasbeennosuccesswhateverincounteringtheprincipalthesis,whichis
simplythattherewasneveranyrealalternativetothepolicyactuallypursued.This
isnottosaythatsomematterscouldnothavebeendealtwithbetterordifferently
(fordifferently,i.e.better,willalwaysbeanoption).Whatismore,noteverything
thatwasdoneneededtobedone,andnoteverythingbroughtthehoped-foreffects,
sincenoteverythingcouldbeforeseenatthetimeinitiativeswerelaunchedor
decisionstaken.Nevertheless,theaspectsreasonablyregardedasthepolicy,smain
attainments–i.e.theregulatingofdifficultbilateralrelations,aswellastheacces-
sionstoNATOandtheEuropeanUnion–couldnothavebeenachievedmorerap-
idlythantheyinfactwere,orindeedundermorefavourablecircumstances.Allthe
actionsformingpartoftheThirdRepublic,sforeignpolicyweretakenwithaview
tosovereigntybeingrestored,securityobtained,andtheconditionsforeconomic
andcivilisationaldevelopmentputinplace.Themostprofoundpurposeunder-
pinningthepolicyfromitsveryfirstyearswastheassuringofPolishlibertyand
independence,astheseweretobebasedonsuchsolidfoundationsaspermanence
ofborders,goodneighbourlyrelations,security,economicgrowthandasufficient
levelofautonomytoallowthecountrytoplayitsfullpartamongthenationsof
Europeintheshapingofmattersaffectingitssurroundings.
*
ConsiderationofthefirsttenorsoyearsofforeignpolicyintheThirdRepublic
ofPolandledtheauthortoconcludethat,wherecontentwasconcerned,thelayout
ofanybookonthesubjectbasicallydecideditself.For,initssubstanceasithas
evolvedovertime,thesaidpolicyhaswellreflectedtheclassicacademictypology
developedtodescribetheobjectivesapplyingtoanyforeignpolicyofanystate.