Thank You, Mitt, or: Romney Gives Poland Publicity

Probably the biggest benefit of Mitt Romney’s arrival is the huge publicity he created for us. Generally, Poland is hardly ever mentioned in the U.S.; a year and a half ago, when president Bronisław Komorowski visited the White House, newspapers brushed it off with paragraphs and TV stations almost passed over it.

The last two days were different — people talked a lot and in a positive way about Poland. It was dubbed one of three the most reliable allies of the U.S. (sic!), besides Great Britain and Israel, the country which is not a supplicant, rather the opposite — the U.S. is indebted to it (which President Obama sometimes seems to forget). Romney could say just a little bit more about the fact that Poland is developing dynamically, that it copes with the crisis relatively well, that it has changed into a modern country throughout last 20 years, etc. He talked about it, but not enough.

Yet, we should not complain: American spotlights are upon us, and we did exemplarily well. It is valuable regardless of the result of the November election in the U.S. Thank you, Mitt!

Paradoxically, Romney’s catastrophic slip-ups in Great Britain and Israel helped us a lot. News from Warsaw was anticipated with special interest as people wandered if the amazing black series would be continued. No one expected that Romney would perform so badly during his first journey abroad – he was able to evoke bad emotions literally out of the blue, even in circumstances which – as the Olympic Games – usually provoke only good ones. The day before the opening he doubted if the hosts had prepared it well, incurring the English media and politicians’ anger and scorn.

In Jerusalem he expressed — without being asked! — a shocking opinion that the Israelis prosper economically, as opposed to the Palestinians, because of their culture.

“These are racist views,” Saeb Erekat, the spokesman of Palestinian National Authority, said in outrage. “This man is not aware that the Palestinians cannot develop freely under the Israeli occupation. He lacks knowledge and vision. He even does not understand the Israelis. I have never heard any Israeli state official talking about cultural supremacy of Jews over Palestinians!”

When Romney was flying from Jerusalem to Poland, his critics and lampoonists wandered what equally idiotic and insulting statement he could issue there. For instance, maybe he would tell off Putin and threaten him with the return of the Cold War? After all, he already said a couple of months ago that Russia is “our number one geopolitical foe.” In the end, the lecture in Warsaw turned out to be a long recital of virtues and services of the heroic, freedom-loving Polish nation, beginning with Pułaski* through John Paul II’s “Be not afraid” which altered the world, “the humble electrician who overthrew communism,” to thanks for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nothing controversial this time.

However, it does not change the fact that the vision of the world emerging from Romney’s previous statements is anachronistic, as if it was borrowed from Cold War times. We can hope it is mostly his election creation. Yet we will be sure about it only if the Republican candidate wins the election. Then the talks in Gdańsk and Warsaw will become invaluable — not only will Poland be the United States’ girlfriend, but Polish leaders will be the first foreign friends and advisors of the president.

Anyway, one should not pin high hopes on this friendship because foreign affairs is a side issue for the United States, plunged as it is in economic stagnation. And Romney — despite high-flown announcements — will surely not change the course set by Obama. Anyway in the same manner, Obama — contrary to high-flown announcements — did not change the course set by Bush in his last term. And in some matters he even beat his predecessor: He got the war in Afghanistan going and he still keeps prisoners in Guantanamo. Yet he does not receive new prisoners, because all suspected terrorists are killed without further ado — with bombs dropped by drones over Pakistan and Yemen. “Reset” with Russia seems the only serious change, but Bush at the beginning also tried something like “reset” with Putin, meaning “he looked into his eyes and saw his soul.”

It is also not true that the current course of American foreign policy demands — from our point of view — serious correction. Indeed, in the face of new problems facing the U.S., transatlantic relations are not as relevant as they used to be, but the accusations that Obama is ignoring them are exaggerated. NATO still remains the most powerful military ally, and Americans every now and then ensure allies about safety guarantees. Obama was in Warsaw last year and now is sending a flight of American pilots to be stationed in Poland.

The truth is that, if we reject the rhetoric, Romney and Obama agree on the majority of international affairs issues. Both campaign teams desperately seek nuances, which could differentiate the candidates. Romney accuses Obama of neglecting Poland and Europe, but on his website there is not a single word about NATO or the European Union! Yet it mentions the plans of the candidate concerning Russia, China, the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan…

Romney came to Gdańsk and Warsaw to give us publicity not because, e.g., he wants to abolish visas or to build a great military base for the U.S. army here, but because Obama canceled the missile defense promised us by Bush; because last year, during his visit in Poland, Obama did not want to see Lech Wałęsa in private so that they could talk as two Nobel laureates should talk, but instead wanted to talk with the opposition representatives; and because recently Obama blurted out a comment about “Polish death camps,” which he apologized for tritely via his spokesmen.

Romney expects he will turn out well against this background. That hearts of Poles living in the U.S. in crucial states — Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin — will beat animatedly when they see his photograph with Wałęsa. This plan was accomplished at 200 percent — not only has he got a snapshot, but American media stated that “the legendary leader of Solidarność supported Romney’s election.” (Wałęsa said something different to Polish journalists, but it seems it did not reach the U.S.)

This is why Romney — especially after previous slip-ups abroad — can be content with his visit to our country. We can be content, too, as he made Poland famous. And what will be the effect of this mutually calculated relationship in the future? The prognosis, as within all relationships without love, is not enthusiastic. Yet sometimes such relationships turn out well.

*Translator’s Note: Casimir Pulaski fought during American Revolutionary War and died in the Battle of Savannah.