POLAND AS A PLAYER IN THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE FIRST TWO DECADES OF THE 20TH CENTURY. SELECTED MILITARY AND NON-MILITARY DILEMMAS

This article aims to show that Poland’s foreign policy towards the Middle East is important, although not a priority in the pursuit of its interests. However, the significance of the Middle East in the Polish raison d’État has been increasing continuously and this trend will continue. Dilemmas related to the issue of military involvement in the region were among the most important for the Polish ruling class over the last three decades. Of equal importance were implications of the Arab Spring, the refugee crisis and the threats of lone wolf terrorist attacks. Also problematic was the position of Polish authorities regarding Iran, or rather the dilemmas connected with unthinking support for the United States in this matter, and the simultaneous cooling of relations with Tehran and the European Union’s states. The policy towards the Middle East is a derivative of the Euro-Atlantic direction, which has been a matter of priority to Poland. Presenting Poland as a loyal ally as regards policy towards the Middle East is an outcome of Polish elites’ endeavours to ensure security in Poland by strengthening the alliance with the USA and NATO, which are to constitute a security provider against the neo-imperial policy of Russia.