2024/01/27 by Jureńczyk, Łukasz
#Polish security policy #Polish-American alliance #Polish-American relations #offensive bandwagoning #pro-Americanism
paper · doi:10.34813/37coll2023
The paper concerns pro-Americanism in Polish security policy in the first two decades of the 21st century. Such tendencies are noticeable in almost all countries of Central and Eastern Europe, but in Poland they are particularly pronounced, and take the form of offensive bandwagoning. Pro-Americanism in Poland has a varied background, but the most important motivation is perceiving the United States as the main external guarantor of state security. Pro-Americanism in Polish security policy was particularly evident in the periods of the US republican administrations, whose international policy was criticized in Western Europe. It manifested itself mainly in Poland’s strong commitment to US-led military operations, striving for the location of American bases in Poland and purchases of US military equipment. Due to the strong pro-Americanism in Polish security policy, Poland is perceived as the most zealous ally of the US in CEE. In the literature, it is referred to, inter alia, as the client state implementing a bandwagoning policy towards the US. In practice, the pro-American security policy does not bring Poland significant benefits beyond standard security guarantees. Moreover, it complicates Poland's relations with Western European allies, and therefore adversely affects Poland’s security interests.