Klasyczne teorie stosunków międzynarodowych cechuje redukcjonizm w procesie wyjaśniania relacji między środowiskiem wewnętrznym państwa a jego otoczeniem międzynarodowym. Jest to szczególnie zauważalne, gdy teorie te aplikowane są do wyjaśniania rzeczywistości pozaeuropejskiej. W odpowiedzi na powyższe wątpliwości teoretyczne artykuł podejmuje próbę rekonstrukcji genezy, podstawowych założeń teoretycznych oraz kierunków badań w międzynarodowej socjologii historycznej. W dalszej kolejności autor prezentuje możliwe kierunki jej aplikacji do badania procesów i zjawisk zachodzących w obrębie tzw. globalnego Południa, na przykładzie regionu bliskowschodniego. Artykuł konkluduje stwierdzeniem, że koncept analityczny socjologii historycznej, ukazujący stosunki międzynarodowe jako trójkąt wzajemnie powiązanych i zanurzonych w kontekście historycznym elementów – państwa, społeczeństwa i wymiaru międzynarodowego – jest odpowiedzią na potrzebę wzmocnienia powiązań dyscypliny stosunków międzynarodowych z innymi dziedzinami nauki.

The turbulent changes in the Middle East which were seen at the very beginning as good news for Israel, at the end of the day became more ambiguous. The Arab Spring and then the war in Syria that had erupted along with massive social protests ended up with regime changes, but what was crucial, the primary success of the Arab awakening was captured by Islamist movements. The changes in the Middle East were even deeper due to at least two factors – Russia „coming into” and the United States „going out” of the region. These new regional circumstances combined with the geopolitical shift in the Middle East and a crumbling American supervision made Israel conclude that its security has become more complex and the U.S has no more been the only significant great power player in the region. Hence the difficult political and military situation around Israel has created a need to adapt to security challenges and simultaneously, to take political opportunities. The goal of this paper is to highlight basic ramifications for Israeli security and diplomacy of the American and Russian factors in the current Middle East politics. The key questions are: How to secure Israeli interests in these new circumstances? How to assess, on the one hand, the risk of the ongoing decline of American interests in the region and, on the other hand, the complexity of the Russian strategy in the Middle East? Finally, whether Israel might be able to gain recognition by the Arab world, not to mention to keep its strategic domination in the region which is already being challenged by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its nuclear ambitions.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the specific character of the so-called Islamic State. For the purposes of the study it is based on two assumptions. Firstly, the rise of the so-called Islamic State was determined by a number of regional and international conditions, in particular the destabilization of the Middle Eastern order, the events of the Arab Spring, operations of the United States in the region, globalization processes, and technological development. Secondly, the specific nature of the so-called Islamic State, reflected in the use of violence and intimidation, noncompliance with the principles of international law, and challenging the international order exclude the possibility of the entity in question being considered as a person of international law. To begin, with view to attain the research objective stated above and under consideration of the research hypotheses adopted herein, this paper examines the root causes behind the rise of the so-called Islamic State at the regional and international level. Subsequently, it defines the specific nature of the entity in question, taking into account its territory, internal structure, principles of operation, and personality.

The aim of the article is to analyze security in the Persian Gulf through the prism of the theory of regional security complex. The Middle East is a conflict formation that refers to the model of security interdependence between the countries of the region, which is shaped by the fear of war and expectancy of violence. Distrust and ubiquitous threat prevail in the relations of the Gulf States. In response, these countries form alliances, which creates a security dilemma. In the article I will try to answer the questions: what determinants affect the security of the Gulf States and what role the U.S. play in security issues in the Persian Gulf?

The European Union towards the arm conflicts and socio-political changes in the MENA region in the 20th and 21st centuries

The countries of the Middle East and North Africa are one of the main areas of interest of the European Union, and the main determinants of mutual relations are primarily the economy and security policy. The aim of the article is to show how the position of the European Union is shaped in relation to the main challenges and threats in this region, to which the Israeli-Arabic conflict, the Palestinian issue and the so-called Arab Spring, as well as the escalation of the conflict in Syria and the problem of international terrorism.

Już podczas nawiązania entente cordial między Wielką Brytanią a Francją w 1904 r. oraz przyłączeniu do niej Rosji w 1907 r. sprawy bliskowschodnie (m.in. Maroko, Egipt, Iran, Afganistan) legły u podstaw tego sojuszu. Toteż kiedy wybucha I wojna światowa, trzy wymienione mocarstwa uznały się za powołane do ukształtowania przyszłości Bliskiego Wschodu zgodnie z własnymi interesami (porozumienie Sykes–Picot, korespondencja Hussein–MacMahon, deklaracja Balfoura i inne). W wyniku wojny (przegrana państw centralnych, wycofanie Rosji bolszewickiej z wojny) Wielka Brytania i Francja stały się jedynymi dominującymi siłami w tym regionie świata. Pierwsza otrzymała mandat Ligi Narodów nad Palestyną (wraz z wydzieloną jej częścią – Transjordanią) i Irakiem. Francja zaś otrzymała mandat nad Syrią i Libanem. Wielka Brytania zachowała ponadto swoją dominację nad Egiptem i Somalią Brytyjską. Francja z kolei – nad Algierią, Marokiem, Tunezją, Somalią Francuską. W tych nowo powstałych krajach arabskich państwo i administrację odwzorowywano na podobieństwo metropolii, co było w pewnych aspektach korzystne, w innych – dysfunkcjonalne i konfliktogenne. Ujawnia się to dobitnie w czasach niepodległości i zimnej wojny, tj. po II wojnie światowej.

About the political past of Azerbaijan – From ancient times to Russian conquest and the land divide

The political past of the area of Azerbaijan from ancient times to the first half of the 19th century formed part of the history of the Middle East. It was its integral part and people who have lived there partly shaped the culture and civilization of the region. Just like the other of its inhabitants, they experienced the invasion and conquest carried out by the army of Alexander the Great, the Persians, Arabs, Seljuk Turks and Mongols. Russian occupation of the northern part of Azerbaijan in the first half of nineteenth century was the beginning of separation of the country from the area which its created its identity.

The Middle East conflict, or more specifically, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been destabilizing the region for many decades now. With time it became transparent that the bilateral talks of the conflicted actors were not realistic, and a mediator was necessary. Due to the unfolding events of the Cold War and US global domination as a result, the following American Presidents were attempting to bring Israel and Palestine to the negotiation table and resolve the conflict. The efforts have failed. In this paper I will analyze a new idea for the Middle East proposed by Donald Trump and continued by Joe Biden – The Abraham Accords. The new strategy aims at building a bilateral platform for cooperation between Israel and the Arab states of the region. While the initial target for the authors of this initiative was to normalize Israeli-Arab relations and as a consequence, stabilize the region. This paper analyzes the place of Palestine in this Middle East stabilization attempt and its future. In light of the American Abraham Accords initiative, the outcome of a final solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is bleak since it only addresses certain issues like development and promoting living standards (which might be accomplished by building Israeli-Arab relations), but, in the foreseeable future, fails to address the most crucial issues – the future of Jerusalem, Israeli settlement building and the Palestinian refugee crises.