Poland is the biggest FDI recipient of the EU countries located in Central Europe. The statistics are showing also more and more investment high activity of Polish companies on the foreign markets. Towards the strong competition and high costs of the workforce in EU countries, Polish companies as the location of their investments often choose markets outside the EU, including the Russian market. The article presents the analysis of the investment cooperation between Poland and the Russian Federation and shows the essential barriers negatively influencing in the shape of these relations. He is pointing in addition also the high importance of the role of the economic diplomacy in the development of cooperation investment between both countries.

Economic relations between Russia and Eastern Europe are reasonably stable, but they are characterized by lack of scale. Therefore, sanctions/contrsanctions have not a systemic effect on bilateral relations, although they have on individual companies. Prospects for Russia’s economic relations with the Eastern European countries are evaluated in terms of their embeddedness in the overall relations between Russia and the West. It follows that is not necessary to expect a quick lifting of sanctions, despite the obvious decline over time the economic damage they cause to all parties involved. Possible in the long term mutual cancellation of sanctions regimes will likely be expressed in increase of the positive effects on normalization of trade and investment, but the magnitude of these effects will hardly be noticeable.

Energy security is a key component of national security. It’s really hard to formulate correct construction of the strategic culture, political strategy, without considering this crucial component. Thus, especially important factors that shape Polish security policy should be mentioned: diversification of energy links and resources, adaptation of country`s technical infrastructure to modern petrol market requirements, bilateral and multilateral agreements covering energy security problems. The Russian factor plays an important role in the Polish energy security policy. Bilateral relations within energy sector have repercussions on Polish energy security and the foreign policy. It also has an impact on the Poland`s internal politics, thus should be considered as crucial for Polish national interest.

The development objective of the article is to present in the last fifteen years the level of economic relations of Moldova and Ukraine with the Russian Federation and the European Union. In connection with this study it was covered by the value of the trade of Moldova and Ukraine with the European Union and the Russian Federation, as well as the volume of the foreign direct investments EU and Russia in the Moldovan and Ukrainian economy.

The publication presents the point of view on economic relations with one Russian region bordering Poland–Kaliningrad Oblast. This is the point of view of the author, who has been dealing with the practical coordination of the co-operation for many years, and who has been currently dealing with this part of the international relations from the scientific.

The difficult situation in the Polish-Russian border regions is described by the presented data related to trade in the recent years. Other aspects of cross-border cooperation which affect the economic development of border regions are also presented. From the point of view of border regions, the current situation is not favourable. For many years there have been attempts to create conditions for the economically weaker border regions, being also the peripheries of the Eastern border of the European Union, to develop better. This aim was to be achieved by, among others, local border traffic, as well as the Interreg programs: Poland–Lithuania– Russia and the currently developed Poland–Russia. In the present political situation, the voice of the regions bordering with the Russian federation is not particularly taken into consideration. But, in the long term, considering the socioeconomic development of border regions and common problems resulting from them being neighbours across the border, it should be noticed.

In Russian-Polish relations there were periods of improvement and deterioration, UPS and downs, due to both historical reasons and internal political changes and the influence of external factors. In these difficult political circumstances, the sphere of culture, education and science have always served as a reserve and a platform for maintaining contacts between the two countries. Of special importance are regular meetings of experts in international Affairs to discuss topical and theoretical problems of world politics and bilateral relations between Russia and Poland.

The cultural-symbolic resources of trust in the political dialogue of Russia and the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe is analizing at the article. Political dialogue is seen as a multi-level systemic phenomenon, which includes all spheres of public life – economics, politics, social sphere and culture. Emphasizes the function of culture, which is in the formation of meaning and values related to the political dialogue. The author substantiates the thesis that the development of political dialogue between these countries can only occur within the space of trust of the parties to each other, which, in turn, is based on the actualization of the positive potential of collective memory, rooted in the cultural and symbolic space. The phenomenon of trust is explored through the prism of values and relationships between participants in political dialogue. Considered a categorical numer that is associated with the term “trust” means trust, confidence, coordination, cooperation, acceptance, understanding, intuition, feeling, reliability, readiness for reunification, the possibility to influence on the basis of shared values. It is emphasized that Russia and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe emerged in the context of the impact of Christian values that defined the development of all sectors of society, including politics, law, economy, social sphere and culture. The author focuses on combining the function of Christian values to Russia and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, this marked distinction of the foundations of stylistics of Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and even more of a Protestant type of thinking. Substantiates the idea that cultural and symbolic space, including the uniting for Russia and CEE meanings and values, much richer and more varied than the contradictory facts that are used in a global geopolitical game. The trust is considered as the basic and fundamental basis for political dialogue. Along with this, the article notes that the trust is formed in a situation of interpersonal interaction in the discourse of everyday contact with cultural and symbolic space of the countries-participants of dialogue. System component of trust in relations between the two countries is a space of shared values generated in the context of Christian culture. Christian culture has mechanisms of transport of religious values to social and political plane. In this regard, the phenomenon of trust in the political dialogue must be viewed through the prism of Christian values.

Societies create cultural models in order to maintain their identity. They constitute a reflection of values and symbols to which they are the most attached. In Russia, there has been a dispute about cultural identity for a long time. During Vladimir Putin’s presidency, when the liberal idea was devalued, a serious debate about the future of Russia was commenced. In contrast to Russia, Poland has always emphasized its European roots and identity of its culture with the Western culture. Comparative studies of the two cultures lead to the conclusion that significant differences are views of: man, freedom and the state. The definition of man in a given culture is associated with the worldview. In Russian culture it has been formulated on the basis of monastic practice and experience of Church Fathers. Hesychasm and deification – are the basis of the Orthodox anthropology. In the contemporary Russian culture one can observe the revival of hesychasm, which stems from the life practice. Latin anthropology was formed under the influence of Saint Augustine’s Confessions. According to Augustine, man is dust and only his „self ”, the person, is endowed with „existence, consciousness and will”. Augustine was the first Latin theologian, who pointed out the historical subjectivity of an individual. Therefore, the European thought identified man with historical ones: the state, nation and economics. The issue of a person’s freedom is the basic issue of Western anthropology. Man perceived himself as an autonomous entity that exists thanks to the autonomous intellect and respects the rights of others adhering to the same principles. Freedom in Orthodox culture is understood as inner freedom from external determinants Saint Augustine formulated a number of problems which are the basis of the Western understanding of the state. The specificity of understanding Augustine’s state is associated with the belief that people are sinful and it has an impact on the state system. Russian state doctrine is connected with Byzantine heritage. The idea of Moscow the Third Rome is a continuation of Byzantine diarchy. The contemporary Russian state thought says that liberal democracy and internationalism are unfamiliar to Russian culture. It finds it necessary to return to the ideocratic country and calls for recovering from the Russian disease of self-consciousness – “occidentalistic rootlessness”.

The article discusses the role of the image of Russia as a factor of the formation of the Polish national identity at the present stage of development. The paper notes that in the dichotomy of “friend or foe” image of Russia rather looks like “foe” – not in conformity with Polish values. At the same time, the article emphasizes the idea of the complexity and diversity of the Polish society, the lack of unity of perception of the image of Russia and Russian–Polish relations.

On the 1st of August 1975 in Helsinki, 35 countries signed the Final Act of the CSCE. Running the Helsinki process was crucial for the institutionalization of the human rights movement in Central and Eastern Europe. For the first time the principle of respect for human rights, treated as a manifestation of European security, achieved a high status in the basic international document. Although at the beginning the conference did not have any means of direct impact on Member States, thanks to the adopted mechanisms (Review Conferences ) it became possible to international control over the observance of the principle of protection of human rights. As a result, already in 1976, the first non-governmental organizations, upholding the findings of Helsinki, were established in the USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia,. In this way, the European communist states were subjected not only international but also internal pressure of societies. Social transformations in each of these countries have become the nucleus of the emerging civil society. The final result of, ongoing since 1973, the CSCE process in 1989, was a fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991 and end of the Yalta–Potsdam order, dividing Europe into the political sphere of influence for more than four decades.

According to the Law on elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan the most important guarantees for adhering to and ensuring universally recognized international principles of electoral law are:

• First, conducting transparent and open, free and genuine, fair elections (art. 5, Law);
• Second, organization and conduct of elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan by independent electoral commissions (art. 4, Law);
• Third, state financing the elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and electoral campaign of candidates (art. 6, Law);
• Fourth, state informational support to elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and pre-election agitation (chapter IV, Law);
• Fifth, participation in elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan by national, international and foreign observes (art. 5, Law);
• Sixth, appealing and responsibility for violation of legislation on elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (art. 7, Law);
• Seventh, taking non-discrimination measures (art. 2, Law).

Książka Prezydencki dyskurs polityki na obszarze poradzieckim pod redakcją P. Załęskiego, O. Piskowskiej (ss. 146) jest szóstym tomem wydanym w ramach serii „Kultura i Polityka” realizowanej w Pracowni Kultury Politycznej Instytutu Nauk Politycznych Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Prezentuje wyniki prac naukowych poświęconych kwestii dyskursu polityki na obszarze poradzieckim.

Znakomita większość prac dotycząca wydarzeń w Związku Radzieckim skupia się na okresie II wojny światowej lub późniejszym. Wielu autorów zadaje sobie trud przedstawienia sytuacji, jaka panowała w Kraju Rad w okresie pomiędzy rewolucją październikowa, a wybuchem Wielkiej Wojny Ojczyźnianej. Ci, którzy podejmują się trudnego zadania opisania tych wydarzeń, skupiają się głównie na ogólnym przedstawieniu sytuacji w całym Związku Radzieckim bądź opisują wydarzenia wojny polsko- -bolszewickiej. Jednak wśród tych wszystkich książek niezwykle trudno jest odnaleźć dobrze napisaną pracę dotyczącą dziejów jednej z największych republik – Ukrainy. Z tym problemem już od wielu lat skutecznie mierzy się prof. Robert Kuśnierz.