Authors

Discussion

At the turn ’80s and ‘90s of the twentieth century, states in Eastern Europe carried out significant political transformations. Between 1989 and 1993, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was headed by Krzysztof Skubiszewski. As a minister, he laid the foundation for the new foreign policy, beginning the process of rapprochement with the West and breaking dependence on the Soviet Union (i.e., the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR). However, from the Polish Eastern policy, the period between 1989 and 1991 seems particularly important. Hence, it will be the subject of the paper.

The main purpose of the paper is to present the „two-track policy,” i.e., simultaneous relations with the republics of the Soviet Union and the imperial center in Moscow from the summer of 1989 (Tadeusz Mazowiecki's government was appointed and the opportunity to pursue an Eastern policy appeared), to the end of 1991 (i.e., the collapse of the USSR). The author assumes that the „two-track policy” is an example of the Polish approach to the East. Its essence is „geopolitical pluralism”, i.e., not focusing on relations with the imperial capital, but on equal treatment of the Eastern European republics of the USSR.

The paper will focus on an analysis of Poland’s attitudes towards the collapse of the Soviet Union. The research problem will be presented using the adaptation theory. This approach distinguishes between the external and internal environment. Hence, it will discuss the internal (e.g., previous experience of decision-makers, the Solidarity war at the top, transformation of the Polish MFA) or external (e.g., rapid changes in Eastern Europe and the USRR, process of the united Germany, the presence of Soviet troops in Poland, attitude of the USA) incentives in 1989-1991.

The author will try to answer the following questions: how internal and external impulses shaped the decision process of Polish incumbents responsible for Eastern policy; what limited the activities of the Polish MFA (more important was incentives from internal or external environments); wheather the Polish MFA could pursue a more active policy (examples of Lithuania and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic); what was impact of the Soviet troops in Poland or attitudes of the United States on the activity of the Polish MFA.

The paper will be prepared using Krzysztof Skubiszewski's private archive (collected in Poznań), his speeches, official documents collected in the Archive of MFA and the Central Archive of Modern Records, interviews with Polish ex-diplomats, press materials and the scholarly writings on the topic (in Polish and English languages). In preparing the paper, methods of content analysis and synthesis will be used. The conclusions will define the adaptation strategy of the Polish MFA headed by Krzysztof Skubiszewski (1989-1991) and assess its effectiveness and innovation.