Obóz 35 (1998)
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Od Redakcji
POSŁOWIE
Peeter Reštšinski
Polityka zagraniczna współczesnej Estonii
Aivars Vovers
Polityka zagraniczna współczesnej Łotwy
Antanas Valionis
Polityka zagraniczna państwa litewskiego
Andrij Deszczycia
Polityka zagraniczna Ukrainy. Wyzwania ze Wschodu i z Zachodu
Piotr Borawski
Konflikty na Zakaukaziu a problem niepodległości Gruzji
DROGI DO NIEPODLEGŁOŚCI
Piotr Łossowski
Krajów nadbałtyckich drogi do niepodległości
Tadeusz A. Olszański
Rok 1917 i 1991. Dwie niepodległości Ukrainy
Bogumiła Berdychowska
Ukraińska droga do niepodległości
BIAŁORUSKI DYLEMAT
Jerzy Turonek
Prorosyjska opcja Białorusi
Eugeniusz Mironowicz
Narodziny białoruskiej suwerenności w latach dziewięćdziesiątych
Marek Karp
Dwie świadomości narodowe a kwestia niepodległości Białorusi
PERSPEKTYWY
Jerzy Targalski
Likwidacja komunizmu w Europie Wschodniej
(scenariusze - przebieg - konsekwencje)
Jerzy Marek Nowakowski
Polityka Polski wobec krajów Europy Wschodniej
CONTENTS
Peeter Reštšinski
Contemporary Estonian Foreign Policy
This article discusses the basic assumptions and principles behind Estonian foreign policy, which is now above all characterized by a desire to foster closer relations with the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization, integration with the European Union, good relations with Russia, and active regional cooperation. The author discusses the results of studies on national security, which indicate that Estonian security can be guaranteed only by dose cooperation with NATO, and by trilateral cooperation in the region after relations with Russia have been stabilized.
Aivars Vovers
Independent Latvia&39;s Foreign Policy
The author discusses Latvia&39;s priorities in the field of foreign policy. The three most important aspects of its foreign policy, according to the author, are integration with the European Union, membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and strengthening regional (i.e.. Northern European) cooperation. Also important is the need to build good neighborly relations with Russia. The author expresses his conviction that it is possible for Riga to accomplish these aims within the next few years.
Antanas Valionis
Lithuanian Foreign Policy
This sketch, like those on Estonian and Latvian foreign policy, also persuades readers that the Baltic states&39; priority remains to achieve the closest possible integration with supranational Western institutions. One section has been set aside for a summary of Polish-Lithuanian relations of the past few years.
Piotr Borawski
Conflicts in the Transcaucasus and the Problem of Georgian Independence
The author - a Polish diplomat and historian -recalls Georgia&39;s „first independence” in the years 1918-1921, analyzing the similarities and differences in the current situation. The most important part of the sketch, however, is a description of the political, economic, ethnic, and religious bases of separatism dividing five provinces of the young state: Adjaria, Megrelia, Djavakhetia, Abkhazia, and Ossetia. Although the author sees evidence of improvement, he does not minimalize the magnitude of the problem. This is evidenced by the fact that the central government does not have control over thirty percent of the state&39;s territory, and that destabilization continues to serve the interests of certain internal and external forces.
Piotr Łossowski
The Road to Independence for the Baltic States
Professor Lossowski discusses the conditions that led to the independence programs of 1905, and the reaction against Petersburg&39;s plans for colonization In the difficult conditions of 1916-1920, when the map of this part of Europe was being redrawn anew, elites from the three Baltic nations strove to achieve and defend independent statehood. Most importantly, the article shows that there was in fact FLOAT8political power behind the leadership in those countries, and that the states therefore should not be considered mere Saisonstaaten. Their fall in 1940 was not the result of internal weaknesses, but rather of Soviet aggression.
Tadeusz A. Olszański
1917 and 1991: Ukraine&39;s Two Periods of Independence
This incisive analysis of the conditions leading to Ukrainian independence in the years 1917 and 1991 brings into sharp relief the ever-present differences between Eastern Ukraine and Eastern Galida („Western Ukraine”). Ukraine, the author argues, was in both situations „pushed into independence”. In 1991, however, its position turned out to be unexpectedly good. This was the case in part because a Soviet Ukrainian Republic (USRS) had existed, which though not a sovereign state, had provided a kind of incubator for politically experienced individuals who would later be able to „take over” the state in 1991.
Bogmnila Berdychowska
The Ukrainian Road to Independence
The author traces the political breakthroughs in the Ukraine during the years 1986-1991. In addition to the events that made the news, the author draws readers&39; attention to those events that often remained in the background, but which nevertheless had an enormous effect on the development of the situation in that state. Examples of such events were the nomenklatura&39;s shock when faced with Mikhail Gorbachev&39;s first reforms, the traumatic impact of the Chemobyl catastrophe on popular opinion, the Aesopian ecological language used by the opposition in the early months, and, finally, the role of the so-called „writer&39;s group” that eased tensions between the nomenklatura and the opposition.
Andriy Deshchitsia
Ukrainian Foreign Policy: Challenge for East and West
In this short sketch by the Ukrainian diplomat A. Deszczycja, he proposes his own periodization for the history of Ukrainian foreign policy after 1991. That country&39;s foreign policy evolved under the pressure of external events, and has been the subject of lively discussions. „Turning points” were for example the signing of the Ukraine-NATO Charter, and also treaties with Russia and Romania. As a result of these documents, Kiev is today in the position to take an active part in relations within East Central Europe and the former USSR.
Jerzy Turonek
Belarus&39;s Pro-Russian Option
This article outlines the genesis and internal dynamics of the powers backing the „pro- Russian option” in Belarus, whose proponents continue to comprise a decided majority in that country. Professor Turonek reminds readers of the „difficult roots” of Belarusian national identity in the nineteenth century, discusses the history of the „idea of a Belarusian nation”, and provides a brief summary of Belarusian national political formations during the years 1917-1920. The author believes that one of the most important reasons that Russia is perceived as the embodiment of hope for improvement in the economic sphere is because there has been a lack of significant economic aid from the West for the new state since the early 1990&39;s.
Eugeniusz Mironowicz
The Birth of Belarusian Sovereignity in the 1990&39;s
The author outlines the birth of the „oppositional intelligentsia” in Belarus
during the late 1980&39;s. He notes that the forced Russification that took place there over many years has meant that „Belarusification” activities of the opposition have been perceived by the population as traitorous. The legislation forcing „re-Belarusification” was powerless against the administration&39;s passive resistance. The 1991 putsch in Russia acted as a catalyst for action that led to formal independence, but this was not enough to convince the „client” masses that Belarus was in fact a sovereign state.
Marek Karp
The Question of Belarusian Independence and Dual National Consciousness
The director of the Centre for Eastern Studies takes up the question of whether there exists an „embryonic” Belarusian national consciousness”, as the Belarusian-speaking opposition would have, or a Jack of national consciousness”, as the Russian-speaking electorate supporting the ruling political group seems to suggest. The author, citing the results of ethnographic studies and research in the area of the history of ideas, expresses his conviction that there are in fact two nations: both are bilingual, but differing fundamentally in their choice of historical consciousness. What elsewhere might manifest itself as a political division has meant, in Belarus where there are weak or absent state institutions, that two separate national mentalities and identities have developed.
Jerzy Targalski
The Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe
The author assesses the role played by the Communist Party as East Central Europe was „emerging from communism”, and also its role as an initiator of change. The author, though far from advocating any conspiracy theories, notes the readiness of many elements within the state security apparatus and among party economists to make far-ranging compromises in the political sphere in exchange for control over the „real” economy the new system. In the sketch, the party&39;s plans are also summarized, which the author believes were intended to create a system of „concessionary independence, multi-party politics, and geopolitical neutrality.”
Jerzy Marek Nowakowski
Poland&39;s Foreign Policy with respect to the Countries of Eastern Europe
In this sketch, the advisor of the prime minister, describes and analyzes the basic levels of Polish diplomacy with respect to neighboring countries. He also presents a vision of „Polish Eastern policy” and of the issues facing our region that need to be addressed. The necessary preconditions for such a policy are also discussed, as well as its relationship to Warsaw&39;s efforts to join NATO and the EU.