The People’s Republic of China currently possesses the second biggest national economy in the world, smaller only to that of the United States. It is also a matter of time for China to become the greatest economic power, at least regarding share in aggregated global GDP and the sphere of international trade. Growing engagement of China in global economic development and its dependence on other participants of trade exchanges have made this country a  more ‘responsible shareholder’ of the international economic system. China has a  great development interest in upholding a  stable world economic situation, and especially in proper economic relations with the United States and the European Union, on whose markets its healthy development largely depends. Whether China will soon become a “mature, responsible and attractive superpower” depends to a significant degree not only on its efforts but also on proper relations with major trade and investment partners around the world. It seems that mutually beneficial economic relations between the PRC and the European Union (founded on mutually beneficial and strategic cooperation and not on serious and opaque competition) constitute one of the key factors determining this scenario’s validity. Unfortunately, for the time being, many problems arise in this relationship. They come from both sides requiring a proper diagnosis, as well as a scientific analysis including both assessment and prognosis. The presented scientific article tries to meet these expectations.

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.

Geo-economics is an approach that, in general, looks at the links between politics and economy in the international arena. This article is an analyses overview of the presence of geo-economics strategy in the Polish-Russian relations. The author focuses particularly on the problems of investment, trade and energy.

In the first half of 1990s, Lithuanian–Belarusian relationships were characterised by their low intensity. This situation remained unchanged also when Alexander Lukashenko came to power in Belarus in 1994. Lithuania and Belarus followed a completely different course in their political, economic and military integration. The European and Atlantic course won in the Lithuanian politics, while in the Belarusian politics the Eastern direction prevailed. After presidential elections in 2001, bilateral relations in Belarus were frozen. Only in 2007 there was a convergence of Lithuanian and Belarusian interests, when increasing Russian influence started to pose a threat to their sovereignty. There was a new opening in Lithuanian policy towards Belarus. Political and economic cooperation tightened. An extent of Lithuanian investments in Belarus also increased. Belarus has played an increasingly important role in Lithuanian politics. Lithuania also acts as a mediator in a conflict between Belarus and EU. Both countries also criticised Russian involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. In the nearest future, further development of economic and political cooperation between these two countries should be expected.

Since gaining independence, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan gradually opened their markets to foreign investors. Before Poland’s accession to the European Union, the activities of Polish investors in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were based on bilateral treaties concluded by Poland with those countries. Later, except Turkmenistan, they were governed by the partnership and cooperation agreements between the European Communities and their Member States. Despite the ample investment opportunities and favourable conditions for access to the market, the activity of Polish companies in these markets has not produced a significant effect. Poland invested with more considerable success on the markets in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It made investment attempts in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, leaving out Turkmenistan. The reason why Poland has a weak position in these markets is the distance between the partners and inability of Polish companies to effectively compete with large multinational companies which have been operating there for years. In the Kazakh market, good investment prospects are available for waste management, petrochemical, mining and road construction companies. In Kyrgyzstan, there are cooperation possibilities in the area of modern agricultural and processing technologies and establishment of fruit and vegetable processing enterprises. In Tajikistan, enterprises can invest in petroleum and natural gas extraction and exploitation, the fuel market, processing of precious metals and construction of conventional and hydroelectric power plants. In Turkmenistan, Polish companies can compete for road, railway and housing construction contracts, whereas in Uzbekistan they can invest in businesses covered by government tax reductions.

The purpose of this article is to present and compare China’s economic, political and military involvement in Ukraine and Belarus, with particular emphasis on their role in the global expansion of the PRC. China after the opening of the economy to the world in the early 1980s, immediately became one of the most important elements of the global economy. The article will attempt an analysis of Chinese investments on the Dnieper, but also the political and military aspects of this cooperation.

The article is focused on the political and economic relations between Poland and Great Britain in last three decades. In first part of the article it was introduced the evolution of the most important political events in bilateral relations and convergent and divergent matters relates to the business of both states before and after the obtainment by the Poland of the membership in NATO and the European Union. Asymmetry among both countries in the political and economic aspect was also underlined. In second part of the article, the attention was concentrated on the analysis of mutual economic relations, in this the growth of trade turnover, services and investments. Consequences for Poland connected with the exit of Great Britain from European Union become also approximate. Four principal conclusions were introduced in the end of the article.

Russian-Pakistani relations. Political, economic and military aspects

After the collapse of the Soviet Union into 15 independent states in December 1991, including the Russian Federation, there was a real opportunity to reset relations between Moscow and Islamabad. The Russian Federation did not take advantage of the new geopolitical situation to significantly improve mutual relations in the last decade of the twentieth century. However, in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, there was an intensification of political, economic and military relations between the two countries, which fluctuated. The author focused in the article on the premises that underline the improvement of mutual relations in these three areas. The premises that have inhibited and inhibit more intensive cooperation, especially in the political and economic fields, were also presented. In the end was formulated a few conclusions.