Polska i Niemcy wokół głównych kontrowersji w relacjach transatlantyckich w dziedzinie bezpieczeństwa na początku XXI wieku

The author attempted a portrait of the degree of convergence and the divergences between the positions taken by Polish and German govemments on crucial controversies in transatlantic relations in the first decade of the 21st century. Even though in the period in question it was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (encompassing US military presence in Europę) that was assigned the main role both in the concepts and in the actual policy of national and international security of Poland and Germany, the positions of the two countries towards the main problems in transatlantic relations, including the reasons and possible solutions, deferred to a great extent. Generally speaking, in questions including Common European Security and Deferice Policy, transformation and role of NATO in the system of global security, out of area NATO missions, the Iraq conflict, the American concept of preventive strike, the development of US militaiy potential, the selective observance of international laws by the United States, the position o f Poland was very close to the one assumed on those issues by the United States.Among other reasons, the differences in the interests and positions of Poland and Germany in the areas of transatlantic relations, mentioned above resulted from the vast asymmetries favorąble for Germany in economic power and international standing of the two states, differences related to a very geopolitical situation, historical experience, and ensuing approach of national decision-makers to state foreign policy and perception of threats in the immediate and further international environment.The profound improvement of American-German relations under Chancellor A. Merkel, the reduction of tensions in transatlantic relations, and new emphases in policy of D. Tusk’s cabinet in European policy and US relations allow the prediction that in the cóming years the positions of Poland and Germany towards the most crucial problems apparent in transatlantic relations will be far more convergent than in the past.