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Table of contents

The 2014 National Security Strategy of the Republic of Poland    11

as an instrument of the State policy. The external premises and process-related aspects

Robert Kupiecki

The National Security Strategy constitutes an expression of sovereignty of the State as well as its ability to adapt to and act as a subject in the complex sphere of international security. The latest edition of the Strategy was approved by the President of the Republic of Poland in November 2014. The dynamie naturę of changes and processes on the international arena make it difficult to keep such documents relevant as useful instruments for national planning mechanisms. This pertains both to States and international organ-izations which make use of this type of documents (for information purposes addressed to the generał public and for directive reasons to the planners). This paper attempts to analyze them against the background of the 25-year-long experience of Polish strategie reflection. It also presents a series of observations on its latest Polish version, in connec-tion with other segments of the planning processes in Poland.

The conflict in Ukrainę - a failure or an opportunity    37

for the EUs Common Security and Defence Policy?

Kamil Sobczyk

The annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the ensuing Ukrainian-Russian war in Donbas have reshuffled Europes security environment. The need to strengthen the hard dimension of security has been reflected in actions of the entities which are key to Polands security: the North Atlantic Alliance and the United States. In this context, ąuestions arise as to the attitude of the European Union, especially in its area of Common Security and Defence Policy. The EU’s response to Russian actions has proved incom-patible with its ambitions of being a meaningful security actor and has been confined to exerting diplomatic pressure as well as imposing visa, financial and economic sanctions. However, in the face of growing conventional military threats, a ąuestion arises how the Union’s security policy should and can change.

The Polish defence strategy vis-a-vis the potential    61

military threat with “hybrid war” elements

Mariusz Fryc

Due to irregular, military take-over of the Ukrainian Crimea by the Russian Federation, followed by the Russian-initiated rebellion aimed at “detaching” eastern regions of Ukrainę, the attention of strategists was caught by a new form of security threat, i.e. an irregular, military aggression conducted below the threshold of an open war. This form, referred to as the “hybrid war”, turned out to be a serious challenge for national

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Bezpieczeństwo Narodowe 2015/1