My hypothesis is as follows: in order to sum up the past 25 years of Polish history, we must take into account the sense of frustration which comes with being offered endless possibilities. The map of Polish…

The time has come to change the story we tell about contemporary Poland. The 25th anniversary of the first free elections in its modern history appears to be a celebration which has Polish citizens smiling, but…

EVALUATING POLAND’S POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION Both the Left and the Right wings of Poland’s political divide see the post-1989 Transformation in a singularly negative light. For the Right, the Round Table…

Maria is a 70 year-old retired engineer. Following the Transformation of 1989, she worked for over a decade outside of Poland, then returned home to retire. Maria and her family enjoy a decent standard of…

Does the burqa ban amount to discrimination? According to French Islamic Studies scholar Oliver Roy, not at all. Wearing the burqa, Roy argues, is an individual decision, made by a small group of well-educated and by no means submissive women. That the ban threatens multiculturalism as an European project, he says, is an equally misguided assertion.

Instead of stigmatizing immigrants, we should double efforts leading to awake their feeling of membership. Otherwise their frustration and the feeling of exclusion will deepen, creating social gaps, the Canadian philosopher claims.

American political philosopher explains why in her view a ban on wearing burqas is a sign of islamophobia, how can we address the question of violence against women and why she believes a man has an inherent tendency towards evil.

Ukraine READ ALL

Affluent Poles looking at Ukraine – too much lecturing, not enough support

Poland has become a part of Western Europe – for better or for worse. In the face of the escalating Ukrainian conflict it definitely seems for worse. The Poles have become wealthy enough to forget where they were 25 years ago. The memories of our own poor condition are so faded that we can no longer empathize with the Ukrainians’ violent struggle. And yet it seems so easy to keep convincing everyone in Brussels that Poland will teach its European partners to think in terms of solidarity.

Different Ukrainians, different Poles

My friends in Ukraine want to know what Poles are like, since they know I lived in Poland for two years. Poles, on the other hand, ask what we Ukrainians are like. I never know what to tell either group. Each new story I come across is different – the more I learn, the more I am afraid of getting things wrong.

Explaining Europe to the Europeans

During a conference organized five years ago in London to celebrate Europe Day one of the major issues raised by Austrian ambassador to the United Kingdom (Austria was at that time president of the EU) was… the lack of jokes on European Union. At the time being, only British historian, Timothy Garton Ash, replied with the one-liner: “If the EU applied to join the EU it would not be admitted”. Over the next few years this became more of a reality than anecdote and I am pretty sure that…

Maybe Russia would change its mind

Gernot Erler talks about European politics and war on Ukraine.