4 minute read
Reverse takeovers
children will continue to use their own languages and adhere to their cultures – their diaspora to be bound, primarily, by a common religion and the will to take revenge for past and current humiliations. Attempts at assimilation by intellectual elites of immigrant circles will lead to the formation of an internal opposition (a long-recognized phenomenon), which will, in turn, form a leadership class in the immigrant circles. Their victory will be based on – a particularly banal thing – the still-functioning democratic procedures, and the inclination for compromise in order to keep social peace.
“New” Europe countries will resist immigration from Africa and Asia, but will supplement the dwindling labor force with mass immigration from the territory of what is today Ukraine (within the borderlines inherited after the Soviet Union). The Baltic countries will be re-Slavised, the largest “absorber” of immigrants being Poland – a country which is capable of peacefully, though shallowly, assimilating newcomers, not only from Ukraine but also from Belarus and Lithuania.
Factors three and four, described as a gradual decomposition of 19th-century European unifications, will come as a defensive reaction aimed at preserving the existing cultural and ethnic identities. Germany and the UK will see the process happening the soonest, turning them into very loose federations of small nationstates. New independent states such as Bavaria, Catalonia, Piedmont, or Scotland will reappear on the map of Europe, which will be considered the only reasonable solution. The design for a new, “proEuropean” Eastern Europe once involved splitting the existing states into smaller areas which were expected to “regain their independence.” This is how Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union were destroyed. At the same time, countries of Western Europe were unified and formations such as a united Germany emerged; there was an idea to turn the West of Europe, in its entirety, into a single federative state under Germany’s protectorate. These projects will not survive until the middle of this century; perhaps they will be even more short-lived, not even capable of surviving into the very next decade. Why? The answer is quite simple: political integration forms organisms that are incapable of solving even the problems they have themselves created. The only chance for the military alliance to persist – which is true for NATO in particular – is the belief in a threat from Russia, which is not believed even by those who adopt it as part of their political agenda. Again, the age-old truth is at work: if a country is ruled by people who believe their neighbor is a threat, the country will either gradually slip into a confrontation – or even an unwanted war – or replace the people in power with those who are able to eliminate the threat. For disarmed – and indeed defenseless – countries with prevalent patriotic attitudes, the choice is more than obvious.
China will finally win its cold war against the US and will form the biggest integrated economic area in the east of Africa, which will by then have become the world’s largest factory. Increased internal consumption and demographic growth will deepen the autonomy of the Chinese economic area, which will take the upper hand over the European nook. The area may house a population of some three billion people, whose consumer demands will be satisfied by China itself. Before it happens, though, China will economically dominate Europe as well, through recreating a new version of the Silk Route.
Poland will never again be the axis of any international dispute, and the country’s location will become an asset. Polish politicians will be able to strike a balance between Berlin and Moscow: the former will be economically weakened, and the latter will be akin to Alexander Dugin’s vision, with nobody bearing in mind antiAmerican resentments anymore.
To sum up, the vision of Poland in 30-plus years is rather optimistic. With 100 years of peaceful existence behind us, the debilitation of potential enemies or opponents – who will have to focus on their own problems – will, as always, be the best bonus from destiny. The must, in this context, is to support – as covertly as is practicable – any process that would take us far away enough from the conflicts of tomorrow.
Witold Modzelewski Professor, University of Warsaw Tax Studies Institute (Instytut Studiów Podatkowych)
A high-stakes game
Poland has always been close to the US, and regardless of whether or not the Polish-American relationship is onesided, it continues to seek to guarantee its security by tightening ties with the global super power. WBJ sat down with Professor Longin Pastusiak, a political scientist specializing in American studies, to talk about Polish-US history and future relations
WBJ: In your latest book, World and Poland, you wrote: “1989 was a year of an actual breakthrough not only in the history of Poland but also in PolishAmerican relations. The systemic transformation in Poland led in effect to changes in the nature of PolishAmerican relations from co-existence to a political and military alliance. This breakthrough was also supported by the fact that Polish society has traditionally approached the US with great affection.” Years have passed since then, the governments in Poland and the US have changed many times and there have been significant changes in international relations, but the fundamentals of the friendly relations between Poland and the US seem solid. How do you view the relationship at the moment?
Longin Pastusiak: Let me start with some references to history. Poland’s relationship with the US dates back to the beginning of US independence. In my research, I identified 123 Poles who fought during the American Revolution, the most well-known being Tadeusz Kościuszko and Kazimierz Puławski. And US President Woodrow Wilson played an important role in Poland gaining independence after World War I.
In 1920, Poland and the US established diplomatic relations for the first time,
