The 9^th International Conference of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland Systems of Protection of Human Rights in Europe and in Australia & Oceania. Warsaw, (April 24-25, 2017), Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce and the Polish Parliamentary Association. 

One can hardly overestimate the meaning of freedom of speech in the European tradition. It dates back to the times of the ancient Greece, although it was only John Milton who wrote the first tract devoted to the subject in question. In his Areopagitica (1644), Milton skillfully defended the principle of a free flow of ideas by stressing out that an open and undisturbed clash of various information and opinions is a condition of discovering truth in life. The best-known and most frequently quoted fragment of Areopagitica reads: “And though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so Truth be in the ! eld, we do injuriously, by licencing and prohibiting to misdoubt her strength. Let her and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the wors, in a free and open encounter. Her confuting is the best and surest suppressing”.

The European Council summit took place on 14 and 15 December 2001 in Laeken. The conference participants unanimously confirmed their readiness to close the accession negotiations before the end of 2002. In Declaration on the Future of the European Union the chiefs of states and heads of governments of the member states established the European Convention. It was also stated that the Convention’s task would be to prepare and lead a discussion on the future of the European Union and organize an Intergovernmental Conference in 2004. During the summit anagreement was reached according to which without institutional reforms the EU would not be able to fully use the enlargement profits. As Joschka Fischer adequately pointed “the enlargement process is a suitable opportunity for carrying out the reforms”.

Celem artykułu jest porównawcza analiza wiedzy politycznej Polaków na tle społeczeństw w zbliżonym kontekście społeczno-politycznym i kulturowym. Kwestia wiedzy politycznej jest istotnym czynnikiem decydującym o jakości demokracji. Jest to także istotna zmienna wyjaśniająca w empirycznych badaniach politycznych postaw i zachowań. Zgodnie z teorią wiedza o polityce pozwala w oświecony sposób myśleć o wspólnocie i jej sprawach. Powinna ułatwiać obywatelom podejmowanie racjonalnych i roztropnych decyzji. Ma wpływ na postawy polityczne i zachowania, powinna uodparniać na populizm i ułatwiać występowanie w roli światłego obywatela. Nasze analizy pokazują relatywnie niski poziom wiedzy politycznej w Polsce, w porównaniu z krajami europejskimi o dłuższym trwaniu demokracji. Jednocześnie jednak Polska nie odbiega od innych krajów postkomunistycznych.

Europa posiada wyraźne odmienności kulturowo-cywilizacyjne, określane na przestrzeni dziejów jako cywilizacja łacińska, chrześcijańska, europejska oraz zachodnia. Przełom ideowy w rozwoju tej cywilizacji spowodowała przede wszystkim rewolucja francuska (1789–1799), przewartościowując w istotnym zakresie wcześniejsze wartości i idee społeczności europejskich. Niemniej obecny charakter cywilizacji zachodniej – ujawniający kryzys dotyczący szczególnie warstwy aksjologicznej – ukształtowany został w długim procesie dziejowym, pod wpływem idei, które uznawano za najbardziej nośne w poszczególnych epokach historycznych.

“A tear dripping on the moustache...” “The Legend of the Young Poland” by Stanisław Brzozowski that is we and Europe

Since the beginning of the modern times, one of the main problems of the Polish culture has been the answer to the question concerning the relation: Poland and Europe, the West. A tremendous variety of literary works concerning this topic has been written. One of the outstanding and broadly discussed literary works is The Legend of the Young Poland by Stanisław Brzozowski which was written at the turn of the twentieth century. The main theory expressed by Brzozowski is: Poland has remained beyond Europe since the beginning of the modern times. Its culture has been shaped by the gentry. It is the culture assuming its superiority over Europe. All failures of Poland are treated here as the nonculpable facts and – in the face of all Polish ideals – unjust...And this is H. Sienkiewicz. Therefore Brzozowski suggests using these elements of the Polish culture archetype which – contrary to the tradition of the gentry – are the most valuable. This is the thought of A. Mickiewicz and Romanticism. At the same time, as it was indicated by Gombrowicz in his works, one should bear in mind the fact of the specific character of the Polish culture. The answer to the question about the relation Poland and Europe is – contrary to the radical standpoint of the Legend... – ambiguous.

Peculiarities of the soft power policy in Europe

The aim of this paper is to describe peculiarities of the soft power as a political phenomenon and to provide an overview of its application by European countries. The specific focus of this paper concerns the role of culture as a powerful means of the country’s image promotion throughout the world. Moreover the paper reviews the activities of the European cultural institutions as an crucial element of the soft power policy.

Bezpieczeństwo jest dziś słowem-kluczem. Bez jego zagwarantowania nie może być mowy o rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczym państw czy organizacji. Bez niego żaden podmiot nie będzie w stanie sprostać pojawiającym się co chwilę wyzwaniom. I choć świat ulega dynamicznym przeobrażeniom, to jednak wciąż w cenie jest posiadanie realnej siły i zdolności odstraszania potencjalnych nieprzyjaciół. Poprawne lub nawet świetne kontakty gospodarcze nie zastąpią więc sił zbrojnych, silnych przemysłów obronnych czy paktów militarnych. Dlatego państwa Starego Kontynentu, wszystkie bez wyjątku, zdać muszą sobie wreszcie sprawę, że trwające od lat redukowanie wydatków wojskowych i wykorzystywanie USA jako gwaranta europejskiego bezpieczeństwa musi się zakończyć. Czas, by Europa wzięła większą odpowiedzialność za siebie i świat. A potencjał ku temu jest wystarczający.

The aim of the article is to analyze the discourse of Pope Francis on the issue of migrations and checking whether it changed after the so‒called ‘migration crisis’ from 2015. The period of time taken into considerations starts from 2014, i.e. one year after Jorge Bergoglio became the Pope, and ends in the current 2018. The analyzed data include annual papal proclamations delivered at ‘International Migrants Day’. Methods applied in the study are content analysis and Berelson’s method.

ISLAMIC DEMOCRACY? THE CASE OF TURKEY

This article aims to present Turkey as a very specific case study of a state that is as much a democratic republic oriented towards Europe as it is steeped in the culture and tradition of Islam. We begin by asking whether a fruitful coexistence of democracy and Islam is possible, and how it might influence Turkey’s development as a modern state. Next, we examine important issues in Turkey’s internal affairs and foreign policy. We end the essay with some conclusions regarding the future of the country in the European community.

European migrant crisis (Considerations removed of emotion and political correctness)

The article looks at the migrant crisis, which reached full flow in 2015, in terms of Europe’s long-term development and its relationship to other continents. It verifies the limited options for studying this topic due to the unavailability of primary sources.

European Academy of Diplomacy Warsaw Science Diplomacy School. Warsaw, (June 22-26, 2020), European Academy of Diplomacy and Inventing a shared Science Diplomacy for Europe (InsSciDE)

Warsaw Science Diplomacy School 2020 was the 1st edition of summer school held together by the European Academy of Diplomacy, based in Poland, and the European Union led programme Inventing a shared Science Diplomacy for Europe (InsSciDE). The week-long venue took place online, due to the coronavirus pandemic, between 22-26 June 2020. Class of 2020 consisted of 28 participants from 6 continents, 10 European Union member states and 27 countries in total, where vast majority possessed different nationality and country of residence. Also, the mentors and instructors of the school came from over 13 institutions gathered in the InsSciDe consortium. Participants were divided into 4 teams where they were discussing study cases of how European science diplomacy applies to global challenges. The chosen challenges were the following: Natural resources as public goods for global health; A Matter of Global Epidemic Diplomacy; Scientists in diplomacy during the Scramble for Africa; and A co-production of science and diplomacy in the Law of the Sea.

Podstawowym wyznacznikiem odrębności poszczególnych cywilizacji jest środowisko. Z tej perspektywy wynikają zasadnicze różnice pomiędzy cywilizacją chińską i europejską. Wskazując środowisko jako podstawowy czynnik rozwoju cywilizacyjnego, rozumiemy nie tylko środowisko geograficzne, ale także środowisko jako przestrzeń geopolityczna, w której kształtują się relacje, zależności, powiązania i konkurencyjność, kształtujące na poszczególnych poziomach rozwoju cywilizacyjnego środowisko międzynarodowe i międzynarodowe stosunki. Do czasu podjęcia przez państwa europejskie dzieła eksploracji nieznanych obszarów Ziemi, świat polityczny podzielony był na strefy wpływów wielkich cywilizacji, których poziom rozwoju nie wyróżniał zdecydowanie żadnej z nich. Europa znaczną część swego dziedzictwa kulturalnego i naukowego przejęła od islamu, podobnie jak społeczeństwa muzułmańskie przez całe wieki wcześniej inkorporowały z Chin, poprzez wymianę handlową, podboje i osiedlenia.

Situation of immigrants and refugees in Ukraine from 1991 to 2013

The author shows the history of the immigration system and refugees in Ukraine. The discussed period of 1991–2013 is not accidental and is quite important in the process of shaping the rights of immigrants and refugees.

Azerbaijan as European and Asian state

The aim of the paper is to present today aspirations of Azerbaijan, a state situated in the South Caucasus, to be the part of European culture. The basic materials taken under analysis are current press texts, sites of the official political and economical institutions published in Azerbaijani language and also paper-printed sources related to the politics and culture of Azerbaijan. The cultural, historical and political bounds allow to Azerbaijani government to establish relationships both with European and Asian partners. The membership of cultural and sport organisations entitles to locate Azerbaijan between European states. But the Islam religion – a part of Azerbaijani culture, in spite of presence of many centuries in Europe, is traditionally associated with Asia.

Sexuality education in Poland and in educational systems in selected countries – model solutions and international initiatives

The article is aimed at the analysis of literature, international documents, legal regulations and research reports on the implementation of formal sexuality education in selected countries. There are many contradictions among researchers about the definition of sexuality education, its scope, the age from which it should be taught and learnt, people who should be its providers, its content and forms. These discrepancies are also present in the public sphere, where two strongly polarized discourses (the conservative and liberal) exist. National policies regarding sexuality education vary in the European Union. In some countries sexuality education has the status of a compulsory subject, is regulated by relevant acts, similarly to teachers training for this subject. In others, sexuality education curricula lack solid legal and theoretical basis. The analysis of selected documents and acts shows that the most effective type is the holistic sexuality education, which being part of the cultural sensitivity approach, addresses the development of knowledge and skills of education recipients, as well as the elaboration of appropriate attitudes towards positive sexuality and sexual and reproductive health. The existing research indicates also that the availability of data on sexuality education should be improved and further analysis is needed to enable better assessment of the situation, to ensure the evidence-based policy creation and strengthen the best identification practices.

The article aims to define the role of institutions in shaping competitiveness in certain European states. The research problem to be addressed through this study is to what extent does the level of competitiveness in world economy depends on Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) in particular countries. The study was conducted using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods of data analysis. A cross-country comparative analysis, based on data from 32 European states in 2021, revealed that the level of competitiveness is determined by institutional environment. The higher the WGI percentile ranks, the better place in the World Competitiveness Ranking. The results of the study enabled to fully confirm the 1st hypothesis, i.e. the institutional governance quality and control of corruption have a noticeably positive impact on competitiveness. It was revealed that the 2nd hypothesis could not be confirmed because of statistical insignificance, i.e. countries with political stability, absence of violence/terrorism and quality of law are typically more competitive among world economies. Meanwhile, the 3rd one was partially confirmed, i.e. the quality of regulations leads to higher competitiveness of economies, while freedom of expression, free media and ability to participate in national elections have not a significant impact on competitiveness.

Wojciech Bogumił Jastrzębowski’s draft of a Constitution for Europe is a vision of an ideal European social order, whose foundation is to be found, inter alia, in the citizen’s universal right to freedom and independence, to diversity and individual identity, as well as the right to live in peace. It is thus highly apparent that a number of parallels exist between the alliance of nations postulated by Jastrzębowski and later forms of integration existing and still being developed in contemporary Europe. The aim of this article is to analyse and characterize the existing similarities, and also the most significant differences, between the monarchist vision of the European alliance of nations, as presented by the author of the Constitution for Europe, and the contemporary realisation of the idea of the unity of the continent.

Europe’s Energy security in the context of Russian invasion on Ukraine

The article presents an objective vision of the causes, content and possible consequences of non-compliance with energy security for the EU or Western democratic countries in connection with Russian imperialism’s aggression against Ukraine as a manifestation of the resurgent colonial Soviet thinking and practice of conquering states and enslaving nations. The concept of energy security has relatively new roots. Intensification of research, attempts at its systemic conceptualization are still ongoing. The author takes a contemporary view of the goals, threats, instruments, and methods of implementation of the policy of energy independence of the EU, diversification of resources and suppliers, and politically assesses the consequences of the still not fully overcome model of supply of raw materials from Russia to the countries of Europe as a hybrid threat. The scientific point of view organically correlates with the civic position, the principles of transatlantic energy security policy and the democratic European vision of contemporary events.