The Problem of Ensuring Germany’s Energy Security in the Context of Gradual Resignation from the Exploitation of Nuclear Power Plants

Problem zapewnienia bezpieczeństwa energetycznego Niemiec w kontekście stopniowej rezygnacji z użytkowania elektrowni jądrowych

Author(s): Beata Molo / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

The article presents selected problems pertaining to Germany’s energy security in the context of the country’s resignation from the exploitation of nuclear power plants. The following issues are discussed: power mix structure, degree of dependence on the import of energy resources and diversification of directions of supplies. The causes and essence of the change of decision concerning the use of nuclear power in Germany following the failure of nuclear reactors in Japan in March 2011 are also analyzed.

The Leadership Role of Germany in Europe and the World from the Perspective of German Scholarly Discourse

Przywódcza rola Niemiec w Europie i świecie w niemieckim dyskursie naukowym

Author(s): Krzysztof Malinowski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

The debt crisis in the eurozone has triggered a heated debate on the FRG’s new role in Europe. Germany’s growing significance in the remedies enacted within the eurozone was an impulse for deliberations about the optimal strategies that would take into account the domestic economic interests of particular countries on the one hand and the cohesion of European integration on the other as well as the expectations of the countries experiencing the effects of the crisis. German political scientists unanimously claim that the expectations of Germany’s partners and allies as to its engagement in solving problems within the EU are instrumental in compelling Germany to assume some kind of ‘‘co-leadership’’ role in the EU.

Position of German and Polish Research and Development Works at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Pozycja RFN i Polski w zakresie prac badawczych i rozwojowych na początku XXI wieku

Author(s): Piotr Kalka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

The article compares the position of the FRG and Poland regarding R&D at the beginning of the 21st century. The R&D level of a country essentially determines its economic growth, since research and development works – their scope and structure – are a crucial influence on technical progress. The FRG has a much stronger position in research and development works than Poland and German science develops more dynamically. The causes of this state of matters lie mainly in the FRG’s advantage in the intensity of research and development and a different structure of financing this field of activity.

The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour – Genesis and Judicature

Ustawa o ochronie krwi niemieckiej i niemieckiej czci – geneza i orzecznictwo

Author(s): Piotr Tomczyk / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

The aim of the article is to present the judicature in cases connected with ‘‘The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour’’ from 1935. An attempt will be made to answer the question, if judges involved in accomplishing the National Socialists racial ideology, carry a share of responsibility for the Holocaust.

A Wave of Political Radicalism in Germany

Fala radykalizmu politycznego w Niemczech

Author(s): Izabela Janicka / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

The Federal Republic of Germany has become in the first decade of the 21st century an arena of growing political radicalism. The article presents the three major aspects of this threat: terrorism on the part of the extreme right; greater activity of German armed groups of the extreme right and left; growing importance of the salafi movement. On account of the scale of inflicted destruction, the motives of its authors and the weakness of the state information services we witness the emergence of a real threat of growing chaos with unforeseen effects. In the context of an atmosphere of an uncertain future and a perspective of social degradation attention is also draw to the human factor which is responsible for the value crisis of German democracy.

Values and Interests in the Foreign Policy of United Germany

Wartości i interesy w polityce zagranicznej zjednoczonych Niemiec

Author(s): Barbara Kobzarska-Bar / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

The article tackles the problem of values and interests in the German security policy particularly during the administration of the CDU
CSU and FDP coalition headed by Angela Merkel. From the statements on security policy formulated by members of subsequent cabinets after 1990 it follows that Germany is in the course of redefining its role in international relations. This role is now defined by a tradition of multilateralism and the conception of a civil state adapted to new challenges that a contender to the position of a world power must confront. A policy of values and interests is the hallmark of Merkel’s present government.

Reorientation of the FRG’s Foreign Policy? Excerpts from Expert Analyses

Reorientacja polityki zagranicznej RFN? Fragmenty ekspertyzy

Author(s): Marta Götz,Tomasz Budnikowski,Krzysztof Malinowski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

The material consists of excerpts from expert analyses prepared by scholars from the Institute for Western Affairs, commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The first part contains an assessment of the impact of reforms launched under Agenda 2010 on German economy in 2013 and its future development. Crucial characteristics of the German economic model are identified and compared with the French vision of the functioning of economy especially in the context of the European Union and specifically in the eurozone. The authors of the second expert analysis focus on changes in Germany’s foreign trade and direct investments identifiable after 2007 which lead to increased importance of economic cooperation with countries outside the European Union. However, it must be emphasized that the readiness to broaden global economic contacts does not cause a re-evaluation of the foundations of German foreign policy nor its greater independence that would result in new possibilities of exerting influence in international relations.

Sport and Politics. The Olympic Medals of German Athletes (1896-2012)

Sport a polityka. Olimpijskie medale sportowców niemieckich (1896-2012)

Author(s): Marek Andrzejewski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

German athletes came first in the medal tally of the Summer Olympic Games only once, in 1936 in Berlin. However, the team of the FRG, GDR or Germany came first in the medal tally of the Winter Games five times. In the all-time tally German athletes hold the third position, overtaken only by teams from the USA and Russia (USSR). This shows that for over a century Germany has played a leading role in the Olympic Games and is a sport power.

Reviews

Oceny i omówienia

Author(s): Leszek Żyliński,Malwina Księżniakiewicz,Marek Andrzejewski,Natalia Jackowska,Bogumił Rudawski,Józef Komorowski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

Gospodarka niemiecka 20 lat po zjednoczeniu, pod red. Tomasza Budnikowskiego, Instytut Zachodni, Poznań, 2011, 238 ss. Stosunki gospodarcze między Polska˛ a Niemcami 20 lat po zjednoczeniu, pod red. Piotra Kalki, Instytut Zachodni, Poznań 2012, 200 ss. MAREK ŻUREK: Unia Europejska w polityce zagranicznej zjednoczonych Niemiec. Determinanty Europapolitik, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego, Szczecin 2012, 555 ss. Rocznik Katedry Badań Niemcoznawczych Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego „Niemcy – Austria – Szwajcaria”, Łódź , tom I 2006, 298 ss.; tom II 2007, 475 ss.; tom III 2008; 510 ss., tom IV 2010, 293 ss.; tom V 2012, 289 ss. AGNIESZKA ŁUCZAK: Utracone decorum. Grabiez doóbr kultury z majatków ziemiaństwa polskiego w Wielkopolsce w czasie okupacji niemieckiej w latach 1939-1945, Warszawa – Poznań 2011, 411 ss. MICHAŁ STEFAŃSKI: Die 68er-Generation vor Gericht. Untersuchungen zu den Konfliktkonstruktionen in den Texten der 85er-Generation, Poznań, 2013, 204 ss. THOMAS URBAN: Czarny orzeł biały orzeł. Piłkarze w trybach polityki, Przełożył Wawrzyniec Sawicki, Śląsk Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Katowice 2012, 310 ss. Sprache und Fußball im Blickpunkt linguistischer Forschung, Schriftenreihe PHILOLOGIA Sprachwissenschaftliche Forschungsergebnisse, Band 169, Janusz Taborek, Artur Tworek/Lech Zieliński (Hg.), Verlag Dr. Kovać, Hamburg 2012, 178 ss.

Polish Reception of German Pedagogical Thought in the First Half of the 19th Century

Polska recepcja niemieckiej myśli pedagogicznej w pierwszej połowie XIX wieku

Author(s): Jan Wnęk / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 02/2013

As a result of the fall of the Polish state in 1795 Poles were deprived of any influence on the official school system. School became a political instrument of the occupying country’s authorities. In this difficult period of national captivity, the pedagogical ideas of the most outstanding representatives of German pedagogical thought were propagated on Polish territory. Polish educators traveled in Germany to become acquainted with the activity of pedagogical institutes there and attempted to transfer their methods of work onto the Polish soil. An excellent way to popularize the ideas of German educators was translating their writings into Polish. In the first half of the 19th century the Polish public could read in their native Polish tongue the then most popular works of such German authors as Campe, Niemeyer and Kant. Some of the translations were published (and commented upon) in journals. Polish educators used the German pedagogical literature critically, adapting the views of German authors to the Polish conditions.

The Problems of Developing Countries at G7/G8 Summits

Problemy krajów rozwijających się na szczytach G7/G8

Author(s): Rafał Matera / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

The first summit of the group of industrial nations was held at the Château de Rambouillet near Paris from 15th to 17th November 1975. It was attended by representatives of six countries: France, Japan, the FRG, the USA, Great Britain and Italy. The name G7 was adopted for summits held from 1976 onward, following the incorporation of Canada into the group. Since 1977 representatives of the Commissions of European Communities also attended the meetings, though only as observers. G7 was transformed into G8 in 1998 at the summit in Birmingham after having functioned for a few years as G7+Russia. Economic declarations and communiqués from the summits of the leaders of the member states contained schemes of a strictly economic nature but also social and institutional proposals. Besides guidelines on macroeconomic policy, and trade and monetary systems, issues concerning environment protection, education or health care also appeared on the agenda. Discussions on the problems of developing countries recurred during all the summits, but implementation of relevant postulates, especially those concerning debt cancellation strategy and coordination of official development assistance were only formulated at the turn of the second and third millennium. The article is an attempt to show how G7/8 engaged for the South over a period of more than thirty years of its activity. The problem of effectiveness of particular initiatives is a more complex issue that requires further investigations and separate studies. This publication is based mostly on documents accepted by the leaders of the member states at annual summits.

Freedom in the Contemporary World

Wolność we współczesnym świecie

Author(s): Wanda Pilch / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

The problem of freedom in the contemporary world is no longer a question of independence. “Contemporary” freedom resembles a continuous and repeatedly undertaken process of dialogical agreement between parties to a debate, e.g. supranational communities, states, or other subjects of public life, such as institutions and associations. Freedom also pertains to relations and bonds, so it has to do with the “relational” matter that unites people. It consists in creating and building, and so cannot be labeled as a fact. To struggle for freedom today means to seek and fi nd possibilities of communication, agreement and consensus. Autonomy, sovereignty and solidarity between people are therefore the fundamental correlates of freedom. Only an agent (e.g. a person or state) strong in one’s autonomy and independent in one’s reasons (interests, rights), self-conscious and responsible, can create bonds and relations of solidarity, which means such bonds and relations that social activity is directed towards a common good and becomes a value in itself, a value of people’s public life.

From the Scientific Chronicle

Z kroniki naukowej

Author(s): Izabela Taraszczuk,Damian Szymczak,Hanka Dmochowska,Ilona Romiszewska,Piotr Kubiak / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

The USA and the Israeli-Palestinian Confl ict of 1991-2008. Instruments, Possibilities and Limitations of the American Mediator

USA wobec konfl iktu izraelsko-palestyńskiego 1991-2008. Instrumenty, możliwości, wości, błędy i ograniczenia amerykańskiego mediatora

Author(s): Radosław Fiedler / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

At the beginning of the 1990s it seemed that the peace process in which the American mediator was engaged would lead to a final agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. Subsequent American administrations had at their disposal instruments that enabled them to influence the sides of the conflict, but the calming of the conflict depended mainly on Israelis and Palestinians themselves. The American side, however, had more understanding for the arguments of the Israeli governments than for Palestinian postulates. Even the personal involvement of President Clinton could not break the growing impasse during the summit at Camp David. The mediations were an evident failure as they did not bring a significant change in the optics of the conflict – mutual mistrust remained and did not disappear even after American diplomacy gave guarantees for Israel and Palestinian Autonomy. The “road map” presented by President G.W. Bush, which was to create a broad framework for a future agreement did not lead to a breakthrough, similarly to the conference in Annapolis (November 2007). The Republican administration almost from the beginning approved the policy of the Israeli authorities and one-sided initiatives such as withdrawal from Gaza or the construction of the so-called security fence. The complicated situation aggravated further after the victory of Hamas in the election of 2006, not to mention the conflict of Israel and Hamas in Gaza at the turn of 2008/2009. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will certainly require a more intensive mediatory involvement of the USA as part of a new American strategy towards the Near East.

A Time of Great Turbulence

Czas wielkich zawirowań

Author(s): Jadwiga Kiwerska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

The two last decades have been exceptionally eventful. The end of the cold war, symbolized by the collapse of the Berlin wall in 1989 triggered historic changes on the international scene. The processes that were underway accelerated, others were launched, new phenomena and challenges emerged, “dormant” antagonisms erupted with sometimes enormous force, new and so far unknown threats appeared. Although in many aspects the world has changed for the better (there is more integration, the sphere of democracy and free market has expanded) we have also been faced with many diffi cult and complex problems (terrorism, growing nationalism, imperial aspirations). That is why the situation in the world today demands from the international community greater solidarity, decisiveness, and well thought-out actions.

Child Soldiers in Contemporary Armed Confl icts

Dzieci żołnierze we współczesnych konfl iktach zbrojnych

Author(s): Jarosław Czyżewski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

The practice of recruiting and exploiting children is an inseparable feature of a majority of contemporary armed conflicts. It is estimated that approximately 250,000 children are currently fighting in 17 armed conflicts, mainly in Africa and Asia. Children are recruited because they are “cheap” to maintain, obedient, do not question orders, are easy to manipulate. A major influence on the occurrence of this phenomenon is also a change in the nature of armed conflicts as well as proliferation and technological development of light weapons. Another determinant is the existence of groups of children particularly threatened by recruitment and negative external conditions that often induce them to volunteer to join armed groups. Child soldiers are exploited as porters, sentries, spies, cooks, sexual slaves, and above all as soldiers fighting on the front line. They are forced to kill, rob and mutilate their relatives and the civilian population. The recruitment of children results in physical and psychic injuries that are difficult to overcome.

Book Reviews

Oceny i omówienia

Author(s): Łukasz Budzyński,Krzysztof Żarski,Leszek Żyliński,Bożena Górczyńska-Przybyłowicz,Rafał Riedel / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

Reviewed books: MAREK NOWAK, MICHAŁ NOWOSIELSKI (red.): Declining Cities/Developing Cities: Polish and German Perspectives, Instytut Zachodni, Poznań 2008, 207 ss. ZYGMUNT BAUMAN: Płynne czasy. Życie w epoce niepewności, Wydawnictwo Sic, Warszawa 2007, 152 ss. JACEK LACHENDRO: Zburzyć i zaorać…? Idea założenia Państwowego Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau w świetle prasy polskiej w latach 1945-1948. Oświęcim 2007, 399 ss. HEIMO SCHWILK: Ernst Jünger. Ein Jahrhundertleben, Piper Verlag, München 2007, 624 ss. HELMUTH KIESEL: Ernst Jünger. Die Biografi e, Siedler, München 2007, 718 ss. MAGDALENA LATKOWSKA: Günter Grass i polityka, seria „Druga Europa” pod red. Jana Koźbiała, WUW, Warszawa 2008, 240 ss. MACIEJ WALKOWIAK: Ernst von Salomons autobiographische Romane als literarische Selbstgestaltungsstrategien im Kontext der historisch-politischen Semantik, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2007, Posener Beiträge zur Germanistik, herausgegeben von Czesław Karolak, Bd. 15, 379 ss.

The Anti-Missile Shield as an Instrument of American Supremacy in the International Security System

Tarcza antyrakietowa jako instrument amerykańskiej supremacji w międzynarodowym systemie bezpieczeństwa

Author(s): Witold Ostant / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

The article aims at elucidating the problem of the so called anti-missile shield, which can be interpreted as an element of American supremacy in the international system. The study is divided into four parts that correspond to specific contexts of the analysis. The first part deals with the origin of the program of the anti-missile shield which goes back to the 1950s. Emphasis is placed on the long range of the undertaking and the favorable attitude of the American administration towards it irrespectively of the party represented in power. The second part looks at technological issues and the global character of the venture as well as its military-technological and propaganda dimensions. Part three discusses the negative attitude towards the program on the part of two countries aspiring to the status of superpowers: the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China. Attention is drawn to the efforts made by these countries to neutralize the American endeavors to maintain military supremacy. This is a topic relatively little known to the general public as it attracts marginal interest of the mass media. The last part concerns the attitude of the European countries to the American project and focuses on the polarization of standpoints of the member states of NATO and the EU.

Introduction

Wstep

Author(s): Hanka Dmochowska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

A Country of Crusaders

Państwo krzyżowców

Author(s): Andrzej Sepkowski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2009

Americans have been expansionistic since their colonial beginnings, undertaking to impose submission on the interior for over two centuries. This expansionism proved to be an unusually strong binder for the society of the young state, assuming the shape of “Manifest Destiny” of President Polk and his successors. It usually served down-to-earth interests but was legitimized with ideas of great missions supposed to spread the perfect system created by the “nation of nations”. The ideas of missions both in their peaceful and conquer form have become an integral part of the American “civil religion”, ritualized by practically all its leaders. Missionism combined with expansionism was the dominant tendency which came to the foreground after 1989. The new hegemony gradually transformed into domination on the international scene, forcing other agents to adopt measures desirable for the neo-liberal establishment. The determining factor was the power of the military-industrial conglomerate, which was not to be underestimated, as today over 600 billon dollars are allotted to military demands. It also seems that President Barack Obama is fated to the practices of a crusader even though the hopes connected with him are hopes for a different, better world.