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STANISLAW PARZYMIES (ed.): Dyplomacja czy sila? Unia Europejska w stosunkach miêdzynarodowych (Diplomacy or Force? The European Union in International Relations). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, 2009, 446 pp.
The subject of the European Union's position in international relations is seldom addressed in the literature of Polish political science, and the same is true of the question of subjectivity of the European Union in international politics, European in particular. The methodological and substantive assumption of the publication under review is reflected in the fundamental question contained in its title: What lies at the basis of the EU's position in international relations? Is it a drive to formulate a position that rests first of all on skillfully conducted diplomatic operations, or is a belief in the need to resort to solutions based on force? This brings us to the second question, a question about the EU's future place in international relations. This is undoubtedly connected with the future model of the EU, i.e. its transformation into a centralized structure versus maintenance of a looser union between its members, while preserving the community's organizational form. The process of transforming the EU into a super-state would by necessity have to entail the establishment of European armed forces. The Union's aspirations to the role of a superpower would, therefore, have to rest not only on autonomous armed forces, but also on a coherent war doctrine. The adoption of such a model would be hampered by the pursuit of conciliatory international policy, by according primacy to diplomatic solutions over policies conducted from a position of force.
In his extensive analysis of this question, Stanislaw Parzymies-in the chapter entitled "Unia Europejska jako uczestnik stosunków miêdzynarodowych" [The European Union as a Participant in International Relations]-expresses the opinion that there are no prospects of transforming the EU into a military power. He points to factors favoring a continuation of the Union as an organization guided by opposition to politics from a position of force. Moreover, the existence of the Atlantic Alliance, with 21 EU countries as members, makes the option of building a power position superfluous. In conclusion, Parzymies notes that "there are reasons to believe that in international relations the European Union will remain a civilian and normative soft power, whose influence on partners...