Politics & Geopolitics

How is it possible that a country that in the 1980s had a public debt of 150 percent of GDP and unemployment of 17 percent, became the economic tiger of Europe? It owes this to effective and efficient work with its diaspora.

Today, Poland is a key country on NATO’s eastern flank, a defender of the EU’s eastern borders and a haven for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have fled Russian aggression.

The NATO summit, held in Washington from July 9-11, occurred amid the alliance’s 75th anniversary and significant geopolitical tensions. The outcomes were mixed, particularly regarding critical issues like Ukraine’s potential membership.

Unfortunately, when the first partially free elections were held in Poland in June 1989, Americans, with the exception of the Polish community in the United States, were generally unaware of the nature of what was happening in Europe at that time. Nor did they understand the importance of Poland's role in the whole process of the fall of communism. Unfortunately, the only thing that captured the collective imagination was the fall of the Berlin Wall.

On June 9, citizens of the European Union voted in election to the European Parliament. For the first time, the euro progressive coalition, which dominated this Parliament for about 30 years, was being challenged by what some call “populist” parties.

Polls show that, in politically polarized Poland, one of the few factors that unite people is aversion to the elites of PO and PiS. The results of the voting in European elections will show whether this is a rebellion, or the search of a new model of managing a state. This is just the beginning of a big change, for which the current elites are ill prepared.

Understanding this historic and unwavering Russian expansionist commitment should help us formulate a winning strategy for stopping them in Ukraine today, the strategy that is missing in our debates. Believing that we can appease Russians with anything is a mistake. They consider any appeasement a sign of weakness, and it motivates them to continue their conquest.

Here, overseas, we often wonder whether Poland, in its current complicated geopolitical situation, will emerge from it without engaging in direct hostilities until it is attacked; whether it will be able to build the position of a strong and serious state with a professional army, services, diplomacy, and an efficient, rapidly developing business.

Let's look a little deeper into what the Heritage Foundation does now? The answer to this question is simple and can be found in a laconic slogan: "Project 2025".

Professor Emeritus Donald Pienkos, was active in helping to bring about Poland's entry into NATO in 1999. He was invited by Consul General Pawel Zyzak of the Republic of Poland in Chicago to speak at the 25th Anniversary Ceremony marking the admission of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into the Alliance.

This is the second part of an article on the joint report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Armed Services, and the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, prepared late last year.