Unia Europejska – próba przedolimpijska

Author(s): Paweł J. Borkowski / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

2018 was a year of substantial internal reconfigurations in the EU. In the article,the author focuses on three processes with the biggest potential for change. There isgrowing awareness of practical difficulties of leaving the EU in an orderly fashion,especially in light of the severe political crisis in Great Britain. Chancellor AngelaMerkel declared her plan to leave (in an orderly way) and the opinion polls beforethe European Parliament elections suggest there is a possibility of a relative successof Eurosceptic parties, which would result in anything but order. The power gamewithin the EU starts with the May 2019 elections and it will take up a better part ofthe year. The consequences of 2018 political decisions are still unknown – growinguncertainty being the only certain factor.

Stany Zjednoczone – dokąd zmierza Ameryka pod przywództwem Donalda Trumpa?

Author(s): Aleksandra Jarczewska / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The second year of Donald Trump’s presidency was not a time of breakthroughs orevents of historical significance. However, there have been some signs foreshadowingsignificant changes for the US.After Trump’s two years in office, the economy is still booming, although afteryears of prosperity one could expect slowdown in the nearest future. In domesticpolitics, the President focused on fulfilling his campaign promises and supportingthe Republicans in maintaining the majority in Congress after the midterm elections.The greatest obstacles for accomplishing Trump’s election goals include: growingconflicts between the President and Democrats, problems related to the investigationby the special prosecutor R. Mueller’s commission, instability and rotation at the toppositions in the administration, and the President’s war with the news media.The “America First” approach continued to dominate in the field of foreignpolicy. The President concentrated his efforts on disposing of Obama’s legacy andimplementing initiatives aimed at protecting the interests of the US and of Americancitizens. However, the lack of a clear vision and consistency in foreign policy,disputes within the administration, a stiffer position and tightening of dialogue withforeign partners led to a further drop in confidence and loss of US credibility on theinternational arena.In general, in fulfilling the vision of Making America Great Again, D. Trump usesmethods and means which are far from the standards previously known in Americanpolitics. As a result, the nature of American domestic and foreign policy is changing.It is an open question, however, whether the processes will prove permanent, to whatextent, and, if so, how will it affect the US political system and international order.

Rosja: zbierają się ciemne chmury

Author(s): Marek Menkiszak / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

In 2018, even though Vladimir Putin’s mandate was formally confirmed ina presidential election, his approval ratings fell significantly, particularly becauseof his highly unpopular decision to raise the retirement age substantially. Thedecision was one of the ways of seeking savings and building reserves in case theeconomic situation became worse as a result of multiplying American sanctionsand changes in the energy resources market. It was a challenge for the Kremlin, andthe Russian government looked for a way to strengthen the political legitimacy ofPutin’s rule while trying to keep their foreign policy directions unchanged withoutunduly escalating the conflict with the US. Russia attempted to make use of growingtransatlantic tensions while looking to normalize its relations with the main WesternEuropean countries and tightening its unequal anti-American quasi-alliance withChina.

Europa Wschodnia i Kaukaz Południowy: dziesięciolecie Partnerstwa Wschodniego

Author(s): Andrzej Szeptycki / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The article aims to analyze the region of Eastern Europe and South Caucasusfrom the perspective of the EU Eastern Partnership programme. Ten years afterits initiation, the region remains unstable both politically and militarily. It is stillstruggling with post-Soviet heritage, such as corruption and authoritarian tendencies.While some countries (Armenia) try to counter these challenges, in others (Moldova)there was a significant deterioration of democratic standards. Such a situationseems to indicate the weakness of the EU’s policy mechanisms towards its Easternneighbourhood.According to the EaP assumptions, the cooperation with the countries of theregion is conducted on the case by case basis. This results in the separation of theEastern neighbours of the EU into two subgroups: the first one is made up of Ukraine,Moldova, and Georgia, which in 2014–2017 concluded association agreements withthe EU, providing for the creation of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas,and were offered a visa-free regime; the second one gathers Belarus, Armenia, andAzerbaijan, with which cooperation is more limited.Russia’s policy remains a key challenge both for the countries of the region and theEU. The Russian Federation is striving both to increase its influence in the countriesof Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, and to limit their cooperation with the EU.An important instrument, though not the only one, of the expansive Russian policyin the region are the frozen conflicts affecting Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia,and Azerbaijan. In the case of Belarus, progressive integration of this country withRussia should not be excluded.

Niemcy między supermocarstwami

Author(s): Rafał Ulatowski / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Heiko Maas, the main challenges forthe international order Germany not only knows but also has become accustomed to,are Donald Trump’s egoistic policy, Russia’s attacks on international law and statesovereignty, and the expansion of China.Germany is a country that wants to maintain the status quo. In the last decades,thanks to US protection, Germany only spent a small portion of its GDP on defenceand could focus on economic development instead. However, the ongoing changesin the global balance of power undermine the possibility of keeping it that way.The Chinese-American competition for primacy in the contemporary world hasserious consequences for Germany as well. Germany’s plan to build economic andpolitical relations while presenting the country as a civilian superpower is becomingincreasingly challenging for the authors of German foreign policy.

40-lecie reform w Chinach i nawiązania stosunków dyplomatycznych USA–Chiny

Author(s): Edward Haliżak / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The aim of this article is to analyze international relations in the Asia-Pacific regionfrom the historical perspective of the 40th anniversary of the economic reformin China and the establishment of diplomatic US-China relations. China’s successfulreform programme and US-China economic cooperation have helped to transformthis country into a superpower and, as a result, multilateralism in the region hasbeen replaced by new US-China bipolar structure. 2018 was the year regional actorsgrew accustomed to this new strategic environment.

Bliski Wschód – krajobraz po bitwie

Author(s): Wiesław Lizak / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

After several years in which the reports from the Middle East were dominated bynews on the fight against the Islamic State, in 2018 there was a significant change.A series of failures of IS in 2016-2017 led to the situation in which the basic questionconcerning the Middle East focussed not so much on the way to overcome theorganization, but rather on the essence of the new international order, shaped asa result of clashing interests of different states and political forces. In Syria, plungedinto civil war since 2011, the scale of victory clearly shifted to the side of the forcesfaithful to President Bashar al-Assad. In Iraq, after a period of cooperation of differentpolitical forces faced with IS expansion, ethnic and confessional divisions revivedagain. At the same time, mechanisms for seeking effective ways to eliminate threatsto the stability of the country have been introduced. Conflicts in Libya and Yemenare still far from settled. Both countries have no governments that can effectivelycontrol the situation in their territories and external actors get involved to furthertheir particular interests. Local conflicts thus become a playing field for competingregional and global powers, hindering stabilization processes.

Polityka zagraniczna Polski w setną rocznicę niepodległości

Author(s): Agnieszka Bieńczyk-Missala / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The article discusses Poland’s foreign policy in 2017/2018. The governmentcontinued the implementation of main foreign policy plans adopted after the Lawand Justice party came to power. It showed scepticism towards further deepeningof European integration, but it did not present any official proposals of EU reforms.Poland’s position in the EU was weakened by the rule of law control mechanisminitiated by the European Commission. Bilateral relations between Poland andWestern European countries were limited. There was no breakthrough in the East,in relations with Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Opportunities for development ofcooperation within the Visegrad Group, the Three Sees and the Nine of Bucharest were explored. As in the past, its security policy was determined by the fear ofRussia’s policy. It was focused on NATO and cooperation with the United States.Postulates of permanent presence of American soldiers in Poland were formulated.The government has not used the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence toorganize international celebrations.

Wybiórczy realizm na sterydach. Power politics à la Donald Trump

Author(s): Tomasz Pugacewicz / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The aim of the paper is to determine whether Donald Trump’s foreign policyemploys a power politics perspective. The proposed hypothesis states that theprimary goal of President Trump’s foreign policy is a great powers competition.The paper is divided into three parts. Firstly, research design is presented. Secondly,empirical analysis of four selected issues is conducted: (1) Donald Trump’s politicalbeliefs; (2) released US strategic documents; (3) institutional change in the field offoreign policy making; and (4) the shape of defence budget. In the final part, thehypothesis is confirmed at the level of President Trump’s political beliefs (fully) andthe US strategic documents (partly), however, at the level of institutional change andthe defence budget shape it is hard to find unambiguous conclusions. As a result, thepower politics approach declared by the US President – considered by some expertsas realism on steroids – is, in fact, implemented only selectively. The research strategyused is a case study. The method of data acquisition is qualitative text analysis.

Power politics w Unii Europejskiej w warunkach zmiany ładu międzynarodowego

Author(s): Tomasz Grzegorz Grosse / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

After the end of the Cold War, the international order began its transition, bothon a global and a European scale. As a consequence of these changes and underthe influence of a series of crises in the EU, two opposing tendencies have beenstrengthened. On the one hand, intensified questioning of the current directions ofintegration, and on the other, the desire to reinforce the management in the EU bythe European core, represented primarily by France and Germany. The aim of thearticle is to show power politics in the EU on the example of internal market changeshappening at a time of transition of the international order.

Indyjska strategia równoważenia w regionie Azji i Pacyfiku po 2014 r.

Author(s): Jakub Zajączkowski / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The aim of the article is to analyze the evolution of India’s strategy in the Asia-Pacific region after 2014, i.e. after the Indian People’s Party (Bharatiya Janata Party,BJP) came to power and the post of prime minister was taken over by NarendraModi. The article characterizes and discusses the main assumptions, directions, andinstruments of India’s foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region.The article attempts to answer two main research questions: whether and, if so,why has India adopted a more active strategy in the Asia-Pacific region; and whether,in its strategy in the political-strategic and security sphere, it has opted for an alliancewith the USA in the Asia-Pacific region.Answers to these questions will allow us to verify hypothesis stating that,especially under the influence of the dynamics of intra-regional relations in foreignpolicy in 2010s, India has redefined its role and position on the Asian continent andhas strived to implement a balancing policy in order to limit China’s increasinglyimportant role and to prevent the shift of power on the Asian continent in favour ofBeijing. To achieve its goals, India advocates a political and strategic alliance withthe USA and its allies as one of the pillars of a democratic, liberal order in the Indo--Pacific region (as an alternative to the order proposed by China).The theoretical tool used in this case study of India’s regional strategy is thecategory of balancing policy. This research tool was selected for its cognitiveand explanatory values which emphasize the importance of the anarchism of theinternational system and the fact that the rules of relations between states area function of the balance of power between them.

Power politics w polityce i percepcji strategicznej Islamskiej Republiki Iranu

Author(s): Robert Czulda / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The current frictions in the Middle East are a “microcosm” of power politics, closeto the vision of Thomas Hobbes and his bellum omnium contra omnes. This visionreflects very well the specifics of the Middle East, but also a security perception ofthe Islamic Republic of Iran, whose decision-makers invariably believe that almostthe entire region, and even a large part of the world, conspire against their state.From the Iranian perspective, Tehran is involved in a war of all against one – theIslamic Republic.The aim of this paper is to show how Iran approaches the contemporary internationalsystem and how it is trying to pursue its interests in a world of growing competition,emerging blocks and ongoing destabilization of the Middle East, where tensionshave been clearly increasing. This paper also tries to determine how consciously Iranenters this geopolitical game and to what degree it is forced to do so.

Power politics w polityce zagranicznej Turcji po 2011 r.

Author(s): Adam Szymański,Adam Szymański / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

The aim of this article is to examine, from the perspective of power politics,Turkey’s foreign policy after the so called Arab Spring, particularly in the last fewyears (2015–2019). The author answers the following questions: Has power politicsin Turkey’s foreign policy intensified? If so, how does it manifest and how is it different from the policy of the first decade of the 21st century? Is it justified toclaim that Turkish foreign policy has turned back to the 1990s model? What are thereasons for the current change in the foreign policy of Turkey? The text providesarguments that in the last few years there have been elements of power politics inTurkish foreign policy, which have been the result of adaptation, i.e. keeping theparadigm and main directions of the policy unchanged while making more frequentuse of hard power tools in relation to soft power measures which are still applied.The current incarnation of Turkey’s foreign policy is a reaction to specific externaland domestic determinants, similar to those in the 1990s (though not the same) andleading to re-securitization of Turkish policy as well as to attempts to enhance itsweakened regional position.

Kalendarium wydarzeń 2018

Author(s): Karolina Libront / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

Aneks: Państwa świata – wybrane dane i wskaźniki

Author(s): Anna Dudek / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

Skorowidz

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

Zespół Rocznika

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

On the Political Economy of the European Union

Author(s): Julia M. Puaschunder,Martin Gelter / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Political economy concerns historical, legal and heterodox economics analysis of complex systems. This article attempts to analyze the current state of the European Union from historical, legal and interdisciplinary economics perspectives. Historically, the ancient Athenian democracy, the Holy Roman Empire and the early formation of the United States serve as examples of early innovative legal constructs of their times that were sui generis and share key features with the current European Union. Regarding legal developments, this paper discusses the bicameral parliamentary structure, electoral processes and populist pressures. The future of the European Union economy is likely to see an AI (r)evolution shaping markets and rising big data revenues. This develop necessitates the creation of a fifth fundamental freedom of data transfer within the European Union, as well as taxation of growth generated by big data. Heterodox economic growth theories will increasingly have to account for this growth.

Factors Affecting Executive Compensation

Author(s): Ivana Marinović Matović / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Executive managers represent the smallest percentage of employees in a business organization, but also the most important. An ideal executive compensation strategy ensures retaining and attracting the best talents, while minimizing the fluctuations. Executive compensation consists of basic pay, short and long-term incentives, benefits and perquisites. Since the 1970s, executive compensation started and continued to grow exponentially. The compensation ratio between executive manager and average employee has increased year by year. For these reasons, special attention of the scientific and general public is paid to the executive compensation, and to the factors affecting its level and structure. The paper provides an overview of factors that may influence the executive compensation, while seeking to determine the executive compensation strategy design, that supports the long-term business objectives. The paper analyzes the effect of organizational size, growth opportunities and risk, ownership and capital structure, as well as manager age, on the level and structure of executive compensation.

“Nano-Killers”. Aluminium Toxicity in the Human Body

Author(s): Georgiana Mardare (Balusescu),Oana Horhogea / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In order to be in a permanent equilibrium, the human body needs small quantities of heavy metals. When heavy metals from water, air or ingested food exceed normal concentrations, they can be a real danger to the health of the individual, causing health disorders that can culminate in the death of the person. But what can happen when these small amounts of heavy metals are introduced into the body, constantly, at short intervals? If in the bone, aluminum replaces calcium in the mineralization process, can we consider that the body can gradually adapt and accept a higher concentration of heavy metals without completely attacking and destroying any organ? Can heavy metals become "invisible enemies", difficult to detect, due to events similar to other diseases? Can, also, all these reactions of the body to intoxicating, against a background of emotional disturbance, to push the subject to suicide?