The State at the Edge: Comparative Geopolitics of Poland and the World?s Civilizational Borderlands
The State at the Edge: Comparative Geopolitics of Poland and the World?s Civilizational Borderlands

Summary/Abstract: Contemporary conflict rarely erupts in the settled cores of civilizations butclusters along the seams – the ancient fault lines where tectonic plates of culture andpower collide. This research reconceptualizes the Civilizational Borderland not as apassive buffer zone, but as a distinct geopolitical actor driven by a structural imperativeof survival. Through a comparative analysis of Poland against a control group offunctional peers – Turkey, Israel, and South Korea – this study identifies a recurringgeopolitical phenotype characterized by existential anxiety, hyper-militarization, andexecutive centralization. It argues that Poland is currently abandoning its post-ColdWar script of passive institutional integration in favor of an industrial garrison model,partially mimicking the strategic autonomy of the Asian and Middle Eastern periphery.By mapping this transition, the research demonstrates that for the borderland state,economic efficiency is subordinate to the sovereignty premium, and that the stability ofthe Western Core is increasingly dependent on the agency of its fortified edge.

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