My new piece in Nations and States. A great blog to add to your weekly reading.
If the liberal world order needed to market a highlight reel of its greatest achievements, Poland would arguably stand first through its post-1989 transformation. In the eyes of many American and Western European commentators and politicians, however, the election and policies of the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) may bring this great ascendancy to a tragic close. Its government supposedly embarks on the “breaking of [its] constitution, in letter and spirit,” and barrels towards “Putin-like leadership.” As the Polish people rejected the heavy hand of Soviet domination, their faces turned to Western Europe as an alternative model of humane relations among peoples. For the Law & Justice Party that now governs and its supporters, the strong criticism from outside journalists and European Union institutions forces Poland again into submission by powerful neighbors.
Wise leadership may not be enough to bridge the chasm between Western European liberals and nationally…
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