A Study Of Poland's Multivectorism Balanced Diplomacy Under The Tusk Government

Being in the buffer zone,Poland harbors a strong sense of insecurity about potential security threats from neighboring powers,and lopsidedly bandwagoning the U.S.and joining NATO's hug is often considered a habitual feature of Polish foreign policy.Throughout the Tusk administration(2007-2014),in addition to transatlanticist tendencies,Polish diplomacy has also shown a strong regionalist trend,emphasizing the consolidation of interests and diplomacy with the neighboring regions,with a significant multivectorism balance.For example,the Tusk government's active eastern policy(both towards Russia and towards the six eastern partner countries)has increased its importance in the regional security as well as in Euro-Russian relations,which in turn has given it more resources for power within the EU framework.In turn,Poland's increased ability to shape EU policy has increased its bargaining position and negotiating leverage in improving relations with Russia.These two above present a mutually reinforcing and balanced relationship.More importantly,Poland's improved position in the security situation in Central and Eastern Europe and in the EU also enhances its strategic autonomy in relations with the United States.The reason is that the easing of Polish-Russian relations will largely improve Poland's security environment so that reduce Poland's dependence on the U.S.for security.As a result,Poland's position between EU,the U.S.and Russia,guided by the pragmatic philosophy of the Tusk government and the diplomatic wisdom of the ruling elite,has significantly improved Poland's international position between EU and transatlantic relations.The main purpose of this study is to use Polish diplomacy under the Tusk administration as a typical case to explore the logic of foreign policy decisions of a middle power in a narrow space among major powers.The traditional realist international relations theories including "balance of power," "balance of threat," and "balance of interest " focus on the state's role in the security of the country.The above theories mainly classify states into two categories: large and small,so that their diplomatic strategy options are mainly between balancing and bandwagoning.In fact,with the rise of emerging economies as a group,the realist dichotomy of states and its corresponding diplomatic strategy options can't effectively explain the logic of diplomatic behavior of this emerging group,which is neither a bandwagoner nor a balancer.Usually,such states,as sub-regional or regional powers,are not positioned as small states even though they do not have the status of major powers in the category of states.Based on this,this paper explores the dynamics of the formation of Poland's multivectorism balanced diplomacy,its operational mechanism,its actual effectiveness and its constraints by redefining Poland as a middle power and from the perspective of middle power diplomacy theory.This dissertation concludes that Polish diplomacy under the Tusk administration maximized the mobilization and utilization of Poland's geographic,economic,military and other resources,maintained a dynamic balance between several powers or international actors with close related interests,and fully transformed Poland's geopolitical disadvantage in the seam zone into a relative geopolitical advantage,thus playing a regional "balancer" and "mediator" between EU,the United States and Russia.However,it is undeniable that Poland's foreign policy continuity is still influenced by the competitive trend of major powers,the external security environment and the changing political perceptions of its domestic ruling elite.This makes the multivectorism balanced diplomacy under the Tusk administration characterized by the following four features: The first is vulnerability: constrained by the continuity of U.S.European policy.The second is reality: different primary concerns of Polish and European countries policies toward Russia.The third is volatility: frequent changes of government under a multi-party system and the fourth,is sensitivity: a high degree of geopolitical insecurity.