The article presents Polish-German relations following the treaty on good neighbors and friendly cooperation from the perspective of a growing importance of soft power tools used by both countries in their mutual relations. In the last twenty years, due to changes in the international milieu, Germany and Poland developed the traditional tools of cultural diplomacy and introduced new concepts of public diplomacy. The new tools employed by Germany involve foreign image policy which is a manifestation of the economization of this country's foreign policy. The significance of Poland as the target country of German cultural diplomacy is currently smaller than at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. In Poland, promotional activities connected with economic transformation have led to the formulation of the conception of public diplomacy, with Germany as one of the target countries. The article refers to the notion of soft power in the interpretation proposed by J. Nye.
The article tries to re-create the picture of the expulsed German that has been created by the Polish media. The author makes use of the results of monitoring nationwide radio and TV stations. On the basis of the analysis he calls attention to the context in which the category of expulsed persons appears in the media - such as Polish-German relationships, the problem of reparations, 'the culture of memory' or the re-interpretation of history. To complete the picture, the results of an opinion poll have also been included. According to the author, the presence of the above-mentioned subject matter in the public debate shows that the war past is still alive in the consciousness of Polish and German societies and it is still a political problem.
The article aims at elucidating the problem of the so called anti-missile shield, which can be interpreted as an element of American supremacy in the international system. The study is divided into four parts that correspond to specific contexts of the analysis. The first part deals with the origin of the program of the anti-missile shield which goes back to the 1950s. Emphasis is placed on the long range of the undertaking and the favorable attitude of the American administration towards it irrespectively of the party represented in power. The second part looks at technological issues and the global character of the venture as well as its military-technological and propaganda dimensions. Part three discusses the negative attitude towards the program on the part of two countries aspiring to the status of superpowers: the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. Attention is drawn to the efforts made by these countries to neutralize the American endeavors to maintain military supremacy. This is a topic relatively little known to the general public as it attracts marginal interest of the mass media. The last part concerns the attitude of the European countries to the American project and focuses on the polarization of standpoints of the member states of NATO and the EU.
In Europe great attention is devoted to civic education; in order to ensure the development of democratic countries, the majority of society must understand how the political system functions. A comparison of national standards for primary education and general secondary education reveals that primary school students acquire more comprehensive civic knowledge, and that education planning documents are oriented towards patriotic, not civic, education. Results of quantitative and qualitative studies confirm that students have poor knowledge about civic participation and insufficient skills for living in a democratic country. Problems existing in civic education are caused by educational standards and the process of political planning; they are also caused by covert education content (teachers' understanding of democratic participation, opinions about controversial historical aspects), the environment (democracy at school, participation of parents and students in decision making at school), passive learning and the political situation in the country. At the same time, the desire of politicians to foster patriotism can be achieved also through facilitating understanding of civic values and participation in democratic processes.
The article characterizes the currently ongoing discussion in the Federal Republic of Germany on the shape of the so-called German patriotism. This syncretic and still rather vague conception, which has gained popularity in recent years, is yet another attempt to define German identity - after the ultra nationalistic, followed by the 'European' and finally the one summed up in the formula of 'constitutional patriotism'. Its emergence should be connected with the project of transforming Germany into a 'normal' state and nation.
The article aims at an analysis of the systemic position of the head of state, as set in the wide formula of the Parliamentary system, and of the function of the political arbitrate attributed to the head of state. It begins with a general observation that, in the case of a head of state in a parliamentary regime, the so called 'arbitrage function' is obligatory. In such a system of governance, the monarch or the president is not expected to be the leader of the executive, a factor ruling in the full meaning of the term. Quite to the contrary; in accordance with such principles of traditional Parliamentarism as 'the King can do no wrong', 'the King may not act on his own', and, lastly, 'the King reigns but he does not govern', in a Parliamentary system the head of state is moved aside, performs ceremonial functions, is a figurehead or, as the tale in the III French Republic held, is a person who cuts the ribbons at flower exhibitions. Apart from performing his representative and ceremonial entitlement, a president (a monarch) also exercises political arbitrage. The latter may take very different forms. It may be, e.g. a sport arbitrage, where the head of state is expected only to observe the rules of the game. It may be also a judicial arbitrage, where, apart from legality, the assessment of the arbiter may also be based on being right and fair. It may, finally, be arbitrage in the sense of making decisions, dangerously approaching the concept of arbitrariness, where the arbiter's actions mean a specific right to a 'free hand'; that is, the right to take decisions which are the best in the arbiter's opinion. Apart from this, the arbitrage of the head of state may take the form of value arbitrage, where the arbiter will protect those values significant to the state and its system. A so-called party arbitrage may be also indicated; this assumes that the head of state has an active role in maintaining the ruling coalitions, and, if necessary, in seeking the parliamentary majority providing a base for the government. However, whatever the type of arbitrage and whether it genuinely comes to the fore in practice or not, the arbitrage (a function of political arbitrage) is recognised as a necessary component of the structure of parliamentary governments.
The new territorial division of the country was introduced by the administrative reform that came into effect on 1st January 1999. The essential purpose of the local government is to facilitate economic and technological development of the province, to improve the inhabitants' standards of living. The local government is supposed to compose the guidelines for the development of the province into its regional policy. The reason why the number of provinces was diminished was the increase in economic and administrative capabilities of the province itself as well as the transference of authority to local governments in planning and implementing the regional policy. It was supposed to bring about an increase in the effectiveness of implementing the policy. It was assumed that strong economic development, the service sector, and varied and rich economy would enable economic and political changes of the large provinces.
The article analyses the concepts and model of social evolution. The most important concepts of biological evolution (mutation, selection, evolution, micro-evolution, selective pressure, environment of evolutionary adaptation, evolutionary stable strategy) are taken for granted and adapted to describe some important phenomena of sociology, with their necessary adaptation to social 'institutions'. The article argues that in sociology one should use the concept of evolution as precisely as in biology. It analyses certain similarities and important differences of the two types of the evolutionary processes: the Darwinian and the Lamarckian ones. Based on the proposed concept of social evolution, it outlines the model and contour of evolutionary sociology.
Preparations for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2011 are one of the priorities of Polish foreign policy. At the same time, the starting point for the choice of priorities of the Presidency will be the development of the European Union agenda. Moreover, the defined priorities should not only reflect the internal economic and social needs of the European Union, but should also take into account translating internal actions into responses to the challenges faced by Europe in the global arena. In this sense, the Polish Presidency faces particular challenges in the external policy field which involve the legal aspects following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, but also, and above all, the sensitive political decisions.
In connection with the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome, the leaders of the member states of the European Union issued a political declaration to mark the occasion. The so-called Berlin Declaration was intended as a manifestation of the EU's unity in the face of challenges of globalization. However, the document gave rise to some controversies concerning both procedural questions and emphases in its contents. For the German presidency the declaration is an important step towards resolving the crisis caused by the disruption of the process of ratification of the constitutional treaty.
The foundation of the orthodox parish in Zielona Góra was connected with the resettlement of Ukrainian and Lemko people in the framework of so-called 'Vistula operation' in 1947. The origins of the parish go back to mid-1948, when the people started to look for a building for the church. Mikolaj Proninski was the founder and the first priest of the parish in Zielona Góra from 1848 to1972. He renovated the church and equipped it with liturgical utensils. In the first years of the existence of the parish there were about 200 parishioners. For a short period of time (1972-1974), Mikolaj Poleszczuk was responsible for the parish. Then the parish was served by the nearby orthodox priests from Kozuchów, Lipiny and Poznan. It was a difficult period for the small orthodox community in Zielona Góra. They were deprived of constant and regular priest service. After a short period (February-May 1975), when the priest was Ihumen Alipiusz from Poznan, Piotr Marczak (1975-1986) took over the duties. During this period the church was renovated inside and painted. Antoni Habura was the priest of the parish in the years 1989-2006. In 1992, the newly built parish house was consecrated. It was used for choir rehearsals and meetings of the orthodox youth. Antoni Habura was responsible for the 'Bractwo Mlodziezy Prawoslawnej' movement in the Wroclaw and Szczecin Diocese. In 1997 the priest started to serve in prisons and hospitals in the parish area. Dariusz Ciolka was nominated the next priest on 20th March 2006, and then on 1st June 2006 Andrzej Dudra started his duty as his follower. The orthodox believers, as well as members of other churches existing in Zielona Góra, are part of a long tradition of Polish tolerance. Multicultural tradition, shaped among others by different religions, is an important fragment of life of the local community. St. Nicholas church became an essential element of the cultural and national identity of orthodox community in Zielona Góra. It consists of Byelorussians, Lemko people, Serbs and Ukrainians. There are about 50 families and part of them live in the villages and towns nearby.
Small and medium enterprises (SME) play an important role in the socio-economic development of Europe, and for this reason the European Union conducts an active policy of supporting their growth. In the years 2007-2013 SME will have access to many EU Programmes, Structural Funds and Initiatives which will help remove barriers obstructing their growth and will enhance their competitiveness and innovativeness. Additionally, those instruments will vitally contribute to exceeding the borders of contemporary knowledge, socio-economic development, cooperation, etc.
The main purpose of the article is to present the reasons for the establishment of G-7. Both economic and political changes, decisive in creating a new international forum are considered beginning with the most fundamental problems of the world economy, which influenced the launching of cyclical meetings of the richest states. The collapse of the Bretton Woods monetary system and the first oil crisis were the most destructive events in the development of the world economy in the early 70s. The most traumatic effects of the monetary and energy crisis at that time was inflation and unemployment. The recession, called commonly stagflation, was one of the most important subjects of transatlantic consultations (the economic part of the publication is supported by statistical figures and tables, which may help to understand the changes in the world economy). The process of the first enlargement of the EEC in 1973 should also be mentioned among the causes of G-7 coming into existence. This enlargement changed the attitude of U.S. policy to its European allies. The West European position in world policy and economy was much stronger since that time. The final decision about organising the first meeting of transatlantic powers was taken in Helsinki on 31st of July 1975 during the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The very first summit with six states participating in it was held in France in 1975. The name of G-7 became official in 1976 when Canadian participants joined the representatives of France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the US.
The text is dedicated to the role of those people who had no formal entitlement to make decisions but, because of their professional achievements (mainly in science), enjoyed prestige in articulating the current or long-term policy of the party and the state authorities in the 1970s. The factors which increased the demand for the services of experts included the awareness of a scientific and technological revolution underway in the developed countries, resulting in support for consulting procedures, something which can be observed in the most important programmatic documents of the PUWP, as well as in the duplicated power structures of the party and the state. A yardstick which may be used to measure the impact of the expert bodies on the actions of state and party authorities is provided by the quantity and nature of the documents submitted to the deliberations of particular bodies of the party and the state. In the case of the state, the decision-making bodies were the Council of Ministers and the Presidium of the government; in the case of the party, it was the Politburo of the Central Committee of the PUWP. In general, it may be said that they were not the primary recipients of papers generated by the various types of experts. Such papers were put to use more at a lower level (e.g. that of particular ministries) or in the offices of their particular members (e.g. that of Edward Gierek). The most renowned case of experts being brought in to the decision making process by the centre of power was the appointment, in 1971, of an economic advisor to the 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the PUPW, in the person of Mr. Zdzislaw Rurarz (formally, he was given a full-time position as an inspector at the CC); he was later to be replaced by Professor Pawel Bozyk. In May 1997, an entire team of scientific advisors to the 1st Secretary was appointed, chaired by Professor Bozyk. It may be said that the influence of the advisors to the 1st Secretary was scant; this resulted, to a large degree, from the concentration of the most of the decision-making power, as far as the economy was concerned, in the hands of Prime Minister, Piotr Jaroszewicz, and the deputy Prime Ministers who reported to him i.e., Mieczyslaw Jagielski and (in the years when the team of advisors was active), Tadeusz Pyka and Tadeusz Wrzaszczyk. The fact that the management of the economy was dominated by the government implied that the greatest influence was held by specialists from within its own structures, namely the lower rank clerks and the directors of the industrial groups and enterprises who acted en masse and drafted documents to meet the needs of their supervisors. Paradoxically, the activity of the team of advisors proved most significant for the further career of some of its members in the state and party structures.
The FRG authorities, in contrast to their position of 1991-1993, when they feared the reaction of Greece and other countries of the European Communities and so refused to recognize Macedonia, in the face of the Albanian-Macedonian conflict of 2001 explicitly supported the Macedonia government. In consequence, together with the other member states of the EU and NATO they engaged in the process or reestablishing peace in the region. The stance then adopted by Germany was characterized by the so-called double strategy. Following its guidelines, the German authorities condemned the actions of Albanian separatists and opted for maintaining the territorial integrity of Macedonia, emphasizing at the same time the necessity to grant Albanians full rights based on their status of national minority and the need to create a multicultural society. This obvious interest in the problems of Macedonia and the status of the Albanian population in this country probably stemmed not only from the wish to lend credence to Germany's foreign policy but also from fear of another wave of refugees flooding the FRG. Economic factors are not be disregarded either. In consequence of all those factors the Bundeswehr forces took part in separating the sides of the conflict and supervising the truce. Direct involvement of the German troops became a basis for developing a new quality in the mode of implementation of Germany's foreign policy and security. Namely, it gave rise to the concept of preventing crises through a cooperation of diplomatic, civil and military components.
In 1998 and 1999 the NATO had a limited strategic choice: to inform that the Kosovo conflict is not in its sphere of interests and is an internal problem of Yugoslavia, which could lead to the international CSCE and UN involvement, or to get involved in the conflict. It has picked the latter. The operation called 'Allied Force' lasted 78 days and has been a military blitz. According to the author, the fundamental question in that conflict however was not that who is right but that one what is the purpose of intervention? What are our interests, which solutions are the best? What are the potential gains and losses? In author's opinion the Kosovo conflict shows a gradual departing from the equal distance or balance of power to one-side support. His theses are comprised in three chapters: Shaken balance, War from a Sky, and Pyrrhic Victory. Among many often forgotten elements, which have influenced the NATO decisions, was the activity of Kosovians of Albanian descent, which dragged the West into the war in their cause. Author encourages the reader to draw conclusions from that conflict in order to avoid such situations in the future.
The article is an attempt to address the problem of guerrilla movements in India, their history and ideological background and recent developments. The origins of communist organizations in India date back to 1925. The Communist Party of India founded on Marxist ideology, however, did not establish itself as an alternative to other Indian organizations striving for independence and social progress in India. In 1946, the communists led protests such as Tebhaga in Bengal and Telengana in the state of Hyderabad, which can be seen as the forerunners of aggressive and violent campaigns with leftist ideological background that took place at the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. The events in Naxalbari in 1967 and later actions of terror in Bengal gradually developed into military guerrilla operations that by now have covered significant areas of India from the border with Nepal to south Deccan. Until 2005, Indian authorities considered these activities as a problem of law and order and not as a political problem, although it affected a considerable part of Indian population: the poorest and the most underprivileged agricultural and tribal societies. These groups of leftist guerrillas, however, should be seen rather as firmly rooted in indigenous communities, ideologically motivated military movement responding to the problems of the poorest sections of the society in many parts of India who feel neglected by the state administration and its agencies. At present the Indian authorities tend to see these movements with their growing military potential as an important and long term political engagement, and such an approach is an important shift after the decades of underestimating this leftist guerrilla phenomenon.
The article characterizes the situation of Churches and religious associations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia after 1989. Along with the onset of transformations of the political system, previously marginalized and persecuted religious associations obtained the possibility of a free development and independence from state authorities, while their members were guaranteed religious liberties. Following the division of the Czechoslovak state into two independent republics - Czech and Slovak - Churches and religious associations have enjoyed freedom, conditions have also been created for development of their activity, religious as well as charitable, cultural, educational, etc. Appropriate legal regulations have also been introduced. However, many problems still remain unsolved, above all the problem of financing the Churches, and in the case of the Czech Republic also the restitution of Church property and the concordate. The situation of religious associations in those countries is also influenced by a change of attitudes toward religion. The highly secularized Czech society shows a well-advanced indifference to religious matters, whereas in Slovakia the Church enjoys social trust and believers make up a large section of the society.
Kirgisia does not belong to the group of small Soviet republics which, in response to the word perestroika, generated a powerful movement in favor of democracy and national emancipation. The decomposition process of the Soviet system in this republic came about very slowly as a consequence of the local nomenklatura's resistance, as well as the slim potential for alternative movements. The article presents the causes of Kirgisian political tardiness, as well as identifies the factors which overcame the stagnation of the communist era in that republic. An essential role in this process was played by the political repercussions of the ethnic conflict in the south of the country in June 1990. An analysis of the personnel and institutional changes in the final year of the USSR's existence constitutes a fundamental part of the article, in which the specifics of political development in Kirgisia are shown against the background of neighboring Asian republics. The final part of the dissertation deals with Kirgisia's place in the decentralization of the Soviet Union as well as the adaptation to unexpected independence.
The work sets out to demonstrate the circumstances, origins, nature and scale of the world financial crisis which has been ravaging the entire world, including the United States of America, Europe and Poland, for well nigh two years now. Particular emphasis is placed here on showing the economic and socio-political consequences of the current crises in terms of Poland. The author thus undertakes an attempt to diagnose and analyse the process in statu nascendi, around which fierce disputes rage between the representatives of various social sciences, including economists, as well as politicians and commentators. Nonetheless, this is essential if we wish to address questions as to the economic, socio-political and international impact of the current crisis on both the world as a whole, and on individual states. There is no way that the current crisis can be effectively fought without knowing the origins and causes which must be eliminated in order to avoid similar problems in the future. However, this cannot be achieved by eliminating only the symptoms, and not the effects, of the current crisis. The difficulties in addressing the questions regarding the implications that the global/world financial crisis holds for Poland are aggravated by the fact that there are still no serious scholarly works, syntheses or in-depth analyses relating to the issue. To date, barely a handful of scholarly conferences have been arranged and very few books have been published, either in Poland or abroad. It thus transpires that the crisis caught not only politicians, but also the academic milieux, especially economists and political scientists, unawares. Some amongst them continue to maintain that in our contemporary world, undergoing globalisation as it is, a deep foreign exchange crisis simply cannot occur, while others have put, and continue to put, their faith in a neo-liberal ordering of the world's economy. However, within the mass media, numerous and often contradictory opinions and commentaries on events encroaching upon the world's economy, have appeared. In the main, they take the form of journalistic opinion, or political propaganda and are used in ongoing political battles in individual states; in this, Poland is also included.
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