Poland Resentful of US

The recent visit of U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has shown that, at best, Poles and Americans can only talk with each other about the past.

Hagel visited a church in Dąbrówka, Poland on Friday, where, at the end of the 19th century, his great-grandparents got married — a couple of years later, they moved to the United States. The Republic of Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided him with copies of his family documents. It was probably the most notable element of that visit, and not simply because Hagel’s ancestors come from Poland. There is also another, far more serious, reason: At best, Poles and Americans can only talk with each other about the past — about the church in Dąbrówka — or about the intervention in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Wess Mitchell, the president of the American think tank, the Center for European Policy Analysis, recently said to me that the transformations in Poland and Central Europe in 1989 were the most important success of the American policy promoting democracy since World War II. However, he complained, American presence in the region is practically unnoticeable.

Of course, one could put all the blame on Washington. One could also call to mind the stupidity of Bush or Obama’s arrogance when he cancelled the development of the anti-missile shield based in Poland on the anniversary of the Soviet aggression against Poland, Sept. 17, 1939, with just one call. After that, one could state that our resentment is wholly justified. It is probably time to look at this from another perspective and make an examination of conscience — even the hastiest one.

Polish foreign policy is getting noticeably more Berlin-oriented since the outbreak of crisis. As the foreign minister of Poland put it in his well-known speech: We are afraid, above all, of one thing — German inaction. However, in geopolitical matters connected with security Germany is, and will certainly remain, inactive. German isolationism is now obvious to everyone. It is Berlin that always answers “no” first to every single action proposal in Europe. This policy of the Germans to abstain can be somewhat understood. Germany is an economic hegemon and the biggest country in Europe. If it towered in one additional category over the rest, no one would tolerate it.

However, Poland is not a hegemonic state. It has to care for its security — I do not assert that it will happen, however: Ukraine could really fall apart, as shown by the recent accidents. So, maybe, it is not enough to echo German sentiment that neither Libya nor Syria interest us or to say that we do not take interest in anything happening outside our own backyard. Americans are neither the ideal nor the most credible ally. They deceived us more than once, and since the end of World War II, they have never shown disregard to Europe as much as they do now. However, maybe it would be worth something to make an effort to gain at least some of their attention.