The proclamation of Polish statehood and the establishment of the Regency Council in 1917 enabled the undertaking of diplomatic activities in the Central Powers to ensure the conditions for the Polish state to be viable. The aim of the paper is to present the construction of the foundations of Polish politics – the diplomacy of the Regency Council administration through its government offices, as well as to seek answers to the questions whether the assumed intentions were implemented and what was the result of initiatives and activities in this area on the international arena?
The paper proposes the classification of health security as one of the non-military security dimensions of the second generation, determined more by globalization processes than by the end of the Cold War (first generation). The cognitive goal of the article is to identify and analyse the elements of the structure of international health security such as 1) the essence and specificity of securitization of threats to health security; 2) health security threats; 3) the referent object or whom it concerns; and 4) measures to ensure it. Specific to this dimension is the political motivation for its securitization. In the world of interrelated and global mobilities, what is significant for health security is the diversity of the development level, preferred values, and, consequently, the diversity of sensitivity and susceptibility of national healthcare systems to cross-border threats.
This study aims to explore the concept of authoritarianism, which – presented in terms of the "wicked problem" of the contemporary world – seems to be a severe challenge to present-day International Relations (IR), both in theoretical and practical dimensions. The author of the article defines the concept of authoritarianism as a form of the political system in which the power and material resources of the state have been centralized, appropriated, and put at the disposal of either an individual or an elitist group "in power." In this way, the possibilities of integrating the authoritarian state – both in the political and economic dimension – with the global system of international relations are limited, and the vital administrative institutions of the state have been manipulated and appropriated. The applied research method allows for interpreting the discussed issues in a complex – albeit specific – systemic form, characteristic not only for politically fragile or declining countries and regions but also for politically stable and economically developed ones. The author's analysis allows for the presentation and reinterpretation of the issue of contemporary authoritarian regimes concerning international relations in terms that not only define but often legitimize – and repeatedly even validate – some of the most despotic, autocratic, and hegemonistic forms of the political systems in modern times.
The aim of the article is to define and catalog the factors preventing political entropy in an international realm – natural tendency of increasing of disorder and progressing of disintegration in global scale. In the first part of the paper, the author extensively referred on how the second law of thermodynamics – the law of entropy are used by social scientists for explanation of phenomena of their interest, and on the basis of available scientific literature, the metaphor of political entropy was formulated. Subsequently, in the second part of the article, this metaphor was used as a framework for identification, highlighting and classification of those factors, which – in the author's opinion – significantly contribute to the slowdown or stopping entropy in an international realm. In the commentaries and conclusions, those factors were interpreted from the institutional perspective, stressing the importance of institutionalization for regulation and stabilization of international relations, and for creation of international order – the anti-thesis of political entropy.
Disinformation and propaganda are key aspects of Russia's war strategy as it uses the information environment to justify its actions in international politics, both domestically and abroad, and to coerce audiences into unwittingly supporting its actions. Russia, leading up to and throughout the conflict with Ukraine, brought the full scope of its propaganda apparatus to bear, leveraging overt and covert capabilities on both media and disinformation tools to justify the invasion and [attempt to] destroy international support for Ukraine. What kind of instruments, methods, and narratives has Russia used before and after its invasion of Ukraine? The spread of disinformation by the Russian Federation prior to and after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as well as the actions taken in response by Ukraine, allied governments, and civil and international organizations provide an important perspective as well as lessons on how to counteract disinformation and propagandistic narratives.
The article describes the international cooperation of local governments, which are a form of decentralization of democratic states. This cooperation developed massively after the Second World War. Today more than 200,000 local and regional communities participate in it, cooperating not only by direct contacts, but also through various types of organizations and networks. This is a new and growing phenomenon in the international environment. On selected examples of Polish local governments, it is shown how strong are the positive ties between members of territorial communities from different countries, built by this cooperation. Their strength and nature are shown by presenting the activities of selected Polish local governments during the extreme crisis, i.e. the war in Ukraine. Thus, it was presented how Polish local governments help the attacked Ukrainians and Ukraine.
This article is a review of basic information on health policies and an introduction to the issue of their design and implementation in the Balkans. The purpose of this article is to discuss the general characteristics of health policies in the Balkans, the challenges and opportunities related to their determination, and implementation in the region and selected countries. The materials used in the preparation of the article are international publications and source documents regulating the issues raised in selected countries as well as studies of the International Health Organization. The methods used in the course of the work were analysis of source documents and data analysis. The work resulted in an article that concisely introduces the reader to the complex issue of health policies in a region still recovering from the armed conflict of the 1990s. The analysis of this issue indicates a deep differentiation of the undertaken activities and financing tools while emphasizing the similarity and often commonality of solutions. This is due to the level of development of individual countries, their economic capabilities, and the degree of advancement in integration processes with the European Union.
The subject of the article is the security of the Republic of Poland and the war in Ukraine in contemporary Polish left-wing thought, represented primarily by the Democratic Left Alliance and the New Left. The security of citizens is the basic determinant of raison d'état and at the same time a key challenge for authorities. The study covered the 21st century because it brought a change in 1) the international system – the Russian Federation questioned the post-Cold War order, 2) lowering the level of security in Central and Eastern Europe, and 3) bringing new challenges for Poland after Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. The cognitive purpose of the article is the assessment of the international environment and threats to Poland made by the Left, as well as the postulated model of security, political and military security, and – in the context of the war in Ukraine – the attitude to the actions of the Polish authorities after 24 February 2022. It should be emphasized that the social democratic movement is a political environment that hopes to take political power in Poland after the expected electoral success in the autumn of 2023. The position of the Left on key matters for state security is interesting not only for researchers but also has a utilitarian meaning.
The role and importance of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in solving global problems, developing human rights, democratic principles, reforms, modernizing public life and developing a global civil society is constantly increasing. INGOs have become new actors in the system of world politics and international relations. There was a need to study the activities of INGOs around the world in the field of history, law, sociology, philosophy, political science. In recent years, many INGOs have appeared in the world, and they work in all countries of the world in such priorities as ensuring human rights, freedom of speech, the economy, the social sphere, the environment, etc. Today, there is an increasing need for a comprehensive study of the activities of INGOs, trends in their increase in the number and rapid growth, influence on the domestic and foreign policies of states and in shaping the global political agenda. The emergence of global problems and the lack of strength and political will of some countries to solve them slow down the integration processes around the world. Especially, there is a need for cooperation in the issues of democratization, liberalization and modernization of public administration and public life. Therefore, today the role and participation of INGOs in solving such issues is increasing. An important result of INGO activity is constructivism and pragmatism.
The article examines if Poland can, in accordance with international law, effectively combat pressure on the border with a country de facto supporting an aggressor. Analysis of, among others, the Geneva Refugee Convention, EU law, the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and jurisprudence validate previous findings that right to life and prohibition of torture are non-derogable, permitting to protect borders and fight with terrorism. National procedures are challenged by a need to individualize decisions refusing entry and denying protection. Still, this does not justify violating human rights.
The aim of the paper is to present the model of Polish civil society development in sport, which is based on three phases: the first one consists in creating rules by international organizations; in the second one public authorities introduce legal regulations based on previously developed organizational standards; in turn, the third phase relies on checking to what extent these rules and regulations have been internalized by their addresses. The indicator for measuring the level of development of civil society in sport was the knowledge of the legal concept of doping among members of Polish national teams.
This paper's objective is to study the impact of the war in Ukraine on the Eastern policy of the European Union. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to highlight this policy's position in the overall international activity of the EU, as well as its characteristic features, main goals, instruments, and two components: the strategic partnership with Russia and the Eastern Partnership (EaP). The substantive part of the paper contains an analysis which, taking into account the implications of the war in Ukraine, is intended to justify three research hypotheses. They concern: the complete failure of the strategic partnership with Russia, then the serious crisis of the EaP and, finally, the possibility of achieving success in the Eastern policy in the form of Ukraine's accession to the EU. As indicated in the conclusion, this would provide the European Union with a permanently strong position in Eastern Europe.
This article seeks to investigate the birth and evolution of the European Political Community – a pan-European multilateral coordination format that has emerged at the initiative of France and in reaction to the Russian full-scale military aggression in Ukraine. The analysis draws on official speeches, think-tank briefs, and the Author's participatory observation conducted during international expert meetings held in early 2023. It is argued that the EPC is still a "moving target" in the early stage of development, where both its objectives and structure are not yet fully defined. From a Polish perspective, it has so far sent a key strategic message to Russia and can serve as a vehicle to re-engage with the United Kingdom or Turkey. But it should not be used as yet another ENP-style waiting room for candidates seeking EU membership.