This book examines Polish-Belarusian relations, which, according to the Polish historian Marcel Kosman, were 'very close, though not always idyllic' (Kosman, 1979, p. 6), or, as the Belarusian author Piotra Rudkouski puts it, 'Historically and culturally, Belarus and Poland are Siamese twins' (Rudkouski, 2007, p. 185). According to the author of this book, the nature of Polish-Belarusian relations is determined by their historical and cultural positions, identities and geopolitical situations. He underlines that Polish-Belarusian relations are subordinate to Polish-Russian relations and, to a significant extent, play a role in Belarusian-Russian relations. The author pays attention to historical and cultural determinants, Polish policy towards the East, political, economic and cultural relations, and 'difficult issues' such as historical dialogue, national minorities (Poles in Belarus and Belarusians in Poland) and border and visa traffic. He tries to understand the circumstances and international interests of both states, which undoubtedly adds to the book's value.

Der Autor untersucht die polnisch-weißrussischen Beziehungen, die historisch gesehen, wie der polnische Historiker Marcel Kosman schrieb, "sehr eng, wenn auch nicht immer idyllisch" waren (Kosman, 1979, S. 6). Der belarussische Autor Piotra Rudkoŭski wiederum hat es so formuliert: "Für Weißrussen ist Polen mehr als ein Nachbar. In der historischen und kulturellen Dimension sind Weißrussland und Polen siamesische Zwillinge" (Rudkoŭski, 2007, S. 185). Nach Ansicht des Autors werden die polnisch-weißrussischen Beziehungen durch die historische und kulturelle Position, den Identitätsfaktor und die geopolitische Situation bestimmt. Er betont, dass die polnisch-weißrussischen Beziehungen den polnisch-russischen Beziehungen untergeordnet sind und dass sie in erheblichem Maße eine Funktion in den weißrussisch-russischen Beziehungen innehaben. Der Autor widmet sich den historischen und kulturellen Determinanten, der polnischen Ostpolitik, den politischen, wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Beziehungen und versucht, die Bedeutung und internationalen Interessen der beiden Staaten zu verstehen.

The relationship between Belarus and Russia is unique and complex. At first glance, their similarities are numerous. Their ties are based on a shared history and language, a deep cultural affinity, legal agreements that codify a strategic partnership, intertwined economies, and shared threat perceptions of the West in general and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in particular. The two governments are led by highly personalist regimes that have decades of experience managing the partnership and share a similar and nostalgic view of the Soviet Union. There is a great deal of convergence across many policies. However, this relationship is not one between equals, nor is it entirely harmonious. The watershed year in the relationship was 2020, when Belarus's ability to offset Russian demands diminished. Through a combination of violent crackdowns on protests that year, alarming its neighbors via a migrant crisis in 2021, and allowing its territory to be used to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Belarus has found itself increasingly isolated and unable to push back on most Russian requests. For Belarus's neighbors, managing the relationship with Minsk is now a challenge as ties (and mutual dependence) between Minsk and Moscow grow stronger. In this report, the authors outline areas of convergence and divergence in the Belarus-Russia relationship. They also consider the regional perspectives of Belarus's neighbors--Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine--and how the Belarus-Russia relationship poses an evolving threat to those neighbors' security.

Whether states balance against or bandwagon with threatening great powers remains an unsolved problem for international relations theory. One school argues that military power compels minor powers to accommodate threats, while another defends that it elicits balancing instead. With the emergence of potential hegemons in both Asia and Europe — namely China and Russia — understanding state alignment is more urgent than ever. This book shows that bandwagoning has been a rare choice in contemporary Asia and Europe. The only states that chose bandwagoning with China or Russia faced both conflicts with third rivals and low levels of U.S. assistance. Going further, I divide bandwagoning between full alignment, survival accommodation, and profit accommodation. Bandwagoners choose among these three options based on the severity of the threat posed by the potential hegemon, the intensity of third conflicts, and the level of U.S. assistance. I test this novel theory against three European (Armenia, Belarus, and Serbia) and four Asian (Cambodia, Myanmar, North Korea, and Pakistan) cases. This study is the first to provide an exhaustive and compelling explanation of bandwagoning fully compatible with neorealism and adds to the balancing-bandwagoning debate. Beyond scholarly implications, this research’s findings offer advice for policymakers concerned with the changing balance of power in Asia and Europe and how to counter China and Russia’s influence.

​This volume explores the bilateral treaties concluded after 1990 between the Republic of Poland and its neighbouring states (Germany, then-Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Belarus and Lithuania), known as treaties on neighbourly relations or good neighbourhood treaties. These treaties, through which Poland and its neighbours were able to establish their political, security and social relations, were extremely significant in that they provided a unique way for them to organise their interstate post-Cold War relations. This book analyses the consequences of these treaties and addresses a variety of issues, including security policy and cooperation, migration, national minority rights, economic cooperation, education, and cross-border cooperation.

Yet he begins with the principles of toleration that prevailed in much of early modern eastern Europe and concludes with the peaceful resolution of national tensions in the region since 1989.".

Belarus is a landlocked country located in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. The country has a total land area of 207,595 square kilometers and has a population of approximately 9.5 million people. The official language of Belarus is Belarusian, although Russian is also widely spoken. The country has a diverse economy which is based on agriculture, heavy industry, and services. Belarus has a rich history and culture, with evidence of human settlements dating back to the Stone Age. The country was also a center of cultural and intellectual activity in the medieval period, with the development of the Belarusian language and the establishment of a thriving literary and artistic tradition. In the modern era, Belarus was part of the Soviet Union for much of the 20th century, and only gained independence in 1991. Since then, the country has undergone significant changes, including the transition from a command economy to a market economy, and the development of a democratic political system. Despite its small size and relative obscurity, Belarus is a fascinating and culturally rich country with a unique history and identity.

This book analyzes the process of national identity formation and identification of children born into formal and informal Polish-German relationships in Poland and Germany, and how that process is impacted by their upbringing at the intersection of two cultures. The sociological-historical approach explores a wide range of processes in interethnic couples related to the case at hand, such as migration, acculturation, and assimilation, as well as integration and increased participation in the structures of the host country, ties with the country of origin, generational changes and decreasing knowledge of the native tongue, and developments affecting mixed partnerships and their children. Taking an original approach to its focus on the long-term relationships between bilingualism and biculturalism and their impact on national identity and identification, the book considers the future and significance of binational and interethnic families and their children in the European integration process and European identity. This volume will appeal to sociologists, historians, political scientists, anthropologists, and linguists, and especially to students and scholars interested in the relations between national, linguistic, and political matters.

This book analyses determinants and the evolution of Poland’s foreign and security policy in the changing international order. By studying historical, geopolitical and domestic factors, the author offers a better understanding of Poland’s national interests and sheds new light on its foreign relations with the USA, Russia and the European Union. Furthermore, the author also discusses Poland’s cooperation within international organisations, such as NATO and the EU.

Belarus is often regarded as "Europe’s last dictatorship", a sort-of fossilized leftover from the Soviet Union. However, a key factor in determining Belarus’s development, including its likely future development, is its own sense of identity. This book explores the complex debates and competing narratives surrounding Belarus’s identity, revealing a far more diverse picture than the widely accepted monolithic post-Soviet nation. It examines in a range of media including historiography, films and literature how visions of Belarus as a nation have been constructed from the nineteenth century to the present day. It outlines a complex picture of contested myths – the "peasant nation" of the nineteenth century, the devoted Soviet republic of the late twentieth century and the revisionist Belarusian nationalism of the present. The author shows that Belarus is characterized by immense cultural, linguistic and ethnic polyphony, both in its lived history and in its cultural imaginary. The book analyses important examples of writing in and about Belarus, in Belarusian, Polish and Russian, revealing how different modes of rooted cosmopolitanism have been articulated.