Militarne i polityczne aspekty rosyjsko-ukraińskiego konfliktu zbrojnego
Military and Political Aspects of the Russian-Ukrainian Armed Conflict

Summary/Abstract: The article Military and Political Aspects of the Russian-Ukrainian Armed Conflict discusses keyissues selected from among the many security challenges and political dynamics directly orindirectly related to the ongoing war between two international actors: the Russian Federationand Ukraine. The author pays particular attention to the impact that the conflict has had – andis likely to continue having – on international relations, both at the regional and global levels.According to the author, there is no doubt that the conflict, which began in 2014 and escalatedinto full-scale war in 2022, has the potential to shift the balance of power on the “global chess-board”. The involvement of numerous international actors in the confrontation between thesetwo countries justifies describing it as a “global proxy war” – a conflict that did not escalateinto a world war only because of the deterrent effect of nuclear weapons, rooted in the conceptof strategic culture. The publication also addresses changes stemming from the unresolvedcore issues of international politics left behind by the Cold War era. The absence of properregulation over time contributed to the emergence of a coalition of states dissatisfied withthe current geopolitical order – led by the Russian Federation and the rising power of China.Since the transformative year of 1989, the United States has remained the dominant force onthe international stage. However, the idea of shifting the geopolitical balance of power hasgradually turned into concrete actions, spurred by a series of serious defeats suffered by theU.S. both internationally and domestically. According to the author, the conflict will also affectPoland – particularly in terms of its foreign policy direction and internal political dynamics. Un-fortunately, this impact is not currently subject to in-depth analysis in Poland, where it is oftenovershadowed by emotion. In politics, emotional reactions frequently lead to flawed calcula-tions, in which rhetoric replaces necessary pragmatism. In such cases, the national interest canmorph into a misunderstood messianism – a recurring theme in Polish history that has oftenmanifested in the form of bloody sacrifices, such as the uprisings of the 19th century.

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