The European region as a form of territorial division of the European Union

The aspirations to develop cooperation within the European Union with partners at the regional level result from the considerable diversification of national legal systems and procedures and the resulting significant difficulties in the conduct and management of cooperation activities. An impulse to deepen the role of the region was the implementation of Structural Fund programs. Voivodships as regions are candidates for the role of the third participant of the EU agreement creating a new three-level system: the community – the state – the region. To participate in this role they must actively work to strengthen their position on the European forum, in particular in the bodies where are creating regional policy. An opportunity for the regions is the development of the European Union’s regional policy, the aim of which is to reduce the differences in local development and eliminate areas of poverty and backwardness. The article presents legal aspects related to the definition of “the region” under Polish law. It also presents the advantages of the Polish voivodship at the EU forum and possible forms of impact on the implemented EU policy.

W artykule została przedstawiona ewolucja stosunków Rosji ze Stowarzyszeniem Narodów Azji Południowo-Wschodniej ASEAN, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem relacji współczesnych. W drugiej dekadzie XXI w. Rosja zintensyfikowała kierunek azjatycki swojej polityki zagranicznej. W opinii wielu ekspertów ta polityka przekłada się w zbyt oczywisty sposób na relacje z Chinami, przez co Rosja może uzależnić się od tego mocarstwa i być postrzegana jako niesamodzielny gracz regionalny. Podejmowane są zatem działania, aby zdywersyfikować partnerów. ASEAN jest jednym z bardziej perspektywicznych, choć jednocześnie trudnych kierunków. Perspektywicznych ze względu na dynamikę rozwoju oraz aktywne uczestnictwo w regionalnych, jak również transregionalnych działaniach, trudnych, bowiem mimo deklaracji rozwój stosunków między ASEAN i Rosją postępuje powoli. Nową koncepcją rosyjską, która ma ożywić współpracę a jednocześnie pokazać, że Rosja może być niezależnym graczem regionalnym, jest projekt Wielkiej Euroazji, który jest zgodny z aktualnymi trendami „nowego regionalizmu”.

Procesy globalizacji ujawniające się u schyłku średniowiecza pod wpływem postępu kulturowo-cywilizacyjnego nie ominęły Gdańska. Położenie geograficzne zasadniczo wpłynęło na portowo-handlowy charakter miasta: z jednej strony zapotrzebowanie na produkty gospodarki naturalnej pochodzące z terenów Polski zgłaszały, stojące na wyższym poziomie rozwoju, państwa Europy Zachodniej, z drugiej zaś port nad Motławą stał się miejscem redystrybucji produktów wytworzonych na terenach Rzeczypospolitej, dostarczanych najtańszym wówczas sposobem, jakim były spływy Wisłą i jej dorzeczami. Rozwój handlu Gdańska z Zachodem sprzyjał wymianie kulturalnej, postępowi technicznemu i wzrostowi zamożności mieszkańców miasta. Pomimo ograniczonego oddziaływania Gdańska na procesy globalizacyjne zachodzące w skali świata, dostrzega się jego istotne znaczenie w zjawiskach pośrednich, umożliwiających wzrost globalnej aktywności głównych podmiotów politycznych. Zauważa się, że procesy te i zjawiska ukształtowały Gdańsk jako główny ośrodek asymetrycznej wymiany gospodarczej i kulturowo-cywilizacyjnej między Europą Zachodnią i Polską, co jest przedmiotem niniejszego wykładu.

NAFTA and Security and Prosperity Partnership are the most important regional integration initiatives which determine the way and form of a new regionalism in North America. The North American integration has different roots and characteristics from the European and Asian ones. The United States as the global and regional power determines this regionalism and makes it rather ‘duallybilateral’ than multilateral. Because of its hegemonic position, the US prefers full autonomy and is reluctant both to deepen the North American cooperation and build supranational grounds for such cooperation. Several integration initiatives may be considered the US regional policy tool to protect its peripheral interests. Although under NAFTA economic issues prevail political ones, after 9/11 security issues have dominated relations in this integration grouping. Security and Prosperity Partnership which combined two compatible issues was meant to make the relations trilateral and initiate the process of building a North American community.

About subdivisions in contemporary Ukraine

The aim of the article is to broaden the discussion on the multi-faceted divisions in Ukraine. Experts of Ukrainian problems are asking, what means „east” and „west” of Ukraine? Author refers to the division of ethnic, linguistic and cultural, in the end is about political divisions in Ukraine. It also indicates that the divisions in Ukrainian society deal with the mutual perception of the Ukrainian and Russian nations. In the final passages concludes that some of the other divisions deepen, making the polarization of Ukraine a serious problem. Analyzing multi-faceted divisions, it concludes that without de-Sovietizing, state „no strikes” with the authoritarian ways of development and make effective modernization.

In Poland, the region where the phenomenon of multiculturalism is most strongly represented is Upper Silesia. Upper Silesia, its historical hosts, have been confronted with German, Polish and Czech nationalism since the mid-21st century. Initially, they were forced to determine their ethnic affiliation, then, due to the change of borders, they were forced to move to one or the other side of the newly established Polish-German border in 1922. After 1945, they were subjected to strong repression, deportation to forced labor camps, forced displacement, degrading verification of nationality, and then they were confronted with the Polish population who came to Upper Silesia. Most often, the Poles who arrived were hostile to the Upper Silesians. The aim of this article is to answer the question whether the experiences of integration of the indigenous population of Upper Silesia into the social, cultural, economic and political structures of the Polish state after World War II can be related to a similar process that will take place after the end of hostilities in the eastern regions of the Ukrainian state. . The starting point is the thesis that the Upper Silesian experience of the rehabilitation and citizenship verification procedures should serve as a warning against the mistakes made in Upper Silesia rather than as a useful reference point.

The ‘Always Mediocre’ Writing of a Nobel Laureate in Literature: The Critical Reception of Grazia Deledda

The reception of the work of Grazia Deledda (1871–1936) is a conspicuous paradox. Although she was a successful author and a Nobel Prize winner (1926), she is little known and little studied, especially when compared with the other Nobel laureates, in particular male ones. My aim is to investigate the origins of Deledda’s ‘misfortune’ by exploring the common issues critics raised with respect to Deledda’s books in her day. One of those was, prominently, Deledda’s alleged imperfect style, a recurring theme in criticism throughout her career. Also, the Sardinian dimension of her works left no critic indifferent and led to her writing often being reduced to ‘regional’ or ‘folkloric.’ Many critics insisted that Deledda’s Sardinia, little known on the ‘Continent’ at the time, enjoyed considerable success precisely because of its ‘exotic’ quality. Finally, Deledda’s status as a woman writer was a salient factor in the reception of her work. Indeed, critics tended to adopt a condescending, or even sexist, tone, whether their assessment of Deledda’s work was favourable or detractive, which was a real commonplace in the reception of women authors back then. My aim is to investigate the role of these issues in the exclusion from the canon of a writer who has remained unique in Italian literature to this day.