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Thucydides is considered to be the founder of political realism. Even in those times he determined the basic premises of realism - security and survival. He made an impact on subsequent development of realism embodied in the works of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Morgenthau, Car, Niebuhr, Aaron, Waltz etc. They will call the system of international relations as anarchical one since there is no supreme arbitrator which will force states to adequate behaviour. His views of realism were given in the volume 'The Peloponnesian War' where he had determined the anarchy of the relationships among states. Such system did not rely on justice and morale, but force and power were the predominant facts. He also introduces the category of just wars by claiming that Sparta led a just war against the increased power of Athens, and observed morale principles. Nevertheless, Thucydides faces contradictory, since Sparta itself as the largest land force of that time had to use force in order to beat Athens. He went ahead since he considered force and power as a necessary condition to achieve other objectives, which was later on adopted by Raymond Aaron. Following the example of the war between Athens and Sparta, he successfully analysed bipolar system of balance of power in which the conflict between the leading members of the two opposite blocks was possible in the end, while beforehand there should have been conflicts among weaker members of both blocks. Thucydides explained the manifestation of force and power using example of the Melian dialogue between the envoys of Athens and Melos. It was about the pure politics of force of Athens regardless of the fact that Melos had its independence.

The article concerns German discussions and plans regarding the future of the European Union and its international role. The fi rst part discusses confl icts or diff erences that burden relations between EU Member States regarding refugee policy, energy policy, the euro currency and arms policy. In addition, phenomena and processes such as nationalism and populism, Brexit and separatism are emphasized. Then the global changes are presented with which the European Union is confronted: the end of Eurocentrism, the US exit from the INF treaty, the future of the nuclear agreement with Iran and the US trade war with China. The rest of the article presents briefl y reactions in Germany, which fall into the mainstream of opinion formation, as well as concepts to overcome crises and shape the role of the European Union: democratization of the EU, the EU as a social union and a new policy of relaxation. ; Artykuł dotyczy niemieckich dyskusji i planów odnośnie przyszłości Unii Europejskiej i jej roli międzynarodowej. W pierwszej części omawiane są konfl ikty względnie różnice, które obciążają stosunki między państwami członkowskimi UE, tyczące się polityki uchodźczej, polityki energetycznej, waluty euro i polityki zbrojeniowej. Ponadto akcentowane są takie zjawiska i procesy, jak nacjonalizm i populizm, Brexit i separatyzm. Następnie prezentowane są globalne zmiany, z którymi konfrontowana jest Unia Europejska: koniec eurocentryzmu, wyjście USA z traktatu INF, przyszłość porozumienia atomowego z Iranem i wojna handlowa USA z Chinami. W dalszej części artykułu przedstawiono pokrótce reakcje w Niemczech, które mieszczą się w głównym nurcie kształtowania opinii, jak również koncepcje pozwalające przezwyciężyć kryzysy i kształtować rolę Unii Europejskiej: demokratyzacja UE, UE jako unia społeczna i nowa polityka odprężania.

One of the fundamental categories of general sociology concerns power. Regardless of differences in interpretation, power can be defined as the dependence between subordinator and subordinated. This relation is unidirectional. When discussing influence, this property is significant, as otherwise it could be reciprocal, or an influence could be exerted by many other entities that are not bound by the relationship of subordination. The nature of international relations is too specific to allow a simple transfer of power-related phenomena from the realm of domestic relations. One can indicate the presence of delegated power, resulting from the mutual assignment of subordination rights to international decision- making bodies. The processes of international power are divided into procedures of hard power, soft power and smart power, the latter signifying the manifestation of effective power, making use of the mechanisms of the former two. It is also important to take into account the specificity of the legitimization of international power and manifestations of accountability. Also not without significance is the capacity for the implementation of international power, equipped with the relevant enforcement instruments. ; One of the fundamental categories of general sociology concerns power. Regardless of differences in interpretation, power can be defined as the dependence between subordinator and subordinated. This relation is unidirectional. When discussing influence, this property is significant, as otherwise it could be reciprocal, or an influence could be exerted by many other entities that are not bound by the relationship of subordination. The nature of international relations is too specific to allow a simple transfer of power-related phenomena from the realm of domestic relations. One can indicate the presence of delegated power, resulting from the mutual assignment of subordination rights to international decision- making bodies. The processes of international power are divided into procedures of hard power, soft power and smart power, the latter signifying the manifestation of effective power, making use of the mechanisms of the former two. It is also important to take into account the specificity of the legitimization of international power and manifestations of accountability. Also not without significance is the capacity for the implementation of international power, equipped with the relevant enforcement instruments.