| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines the behavior of Poland on the international stage, specifically its interaction with the European Union, the United States, and Russia in a historical context using a psychoanalytic approach to memory studies. The author presumes that Polish foreign policy may be dominated by “strategic thanatos”—a historical practice of tactically meaningful but strategically destructive behavior which, while declaring the state’s sovereignty a supreme value, in the long run reduces the level of national security and increases international political tensions around Poland. The author suggests that Poland’s policy of building “privileged” relations with the United States and its activity in the post-Soviet space is a continuation of Poland’s interwar policy, whose historical implications have not been critically reconsidered by Polish political and intellectual elites. This policy has resulted in an objective deterioration of the strategic position of modern Poland. The author predicts that, amid a growing conflict with the European Commission, the ruling anti-liberal national clericals from the Law and Justice party will try to rely on U.S. support and become a center of gravity for European rightwing populists. The proposals of French President Emmanuel Macron to deepen European integration and build a new European security architecture together with Russia suggest that the European establishment is seeking to reduce the EU’s military
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