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Polish leader ‘shocked’ by U.S.

Former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski looked out to a packed audience in the School of Management fourth floor auditorium, astonished. He said he saw the more than 200 attendees as an indication of today’s political climate in the United States and the rest of the world.

‘I’m shocked by the number,’ he said. ‘Normal people have better things to do on a Sunday night. It speaks to the importance of the election to so many people.’

Kwasniewski, along with Harvard University international relations professor Stephen Walt, spoke about the issues concerning the world with regard to the upcoming presidential elections Sunday.

‘The election is interesting, exciting and important as usual, because America is a working, effective democracy and an example for the world and Europe,’ he said. ‘The weight of this election is the heaviest. We have new world creations and problems.” ‘ ‘

This election is equal in importance to the elections of 1960 and 1968, when America witnessed a change in generational issues and deep crises with the Vietnam War, Kwasniewski said.

Kwasniewski, who served from 1995 to 2005, took part in transforming Poland and the rest of formerly communist Europe into democratic states. He also co-authored Poland’s democratic constitution and saw Poland become a member of NATO and the European Union under his rule.

As someone who has dealt with America from outside firsthand, Kwasniewski spoke of America’s prominence in the international sphere.

‘America is still a leader in democratic institutions and countries,’ he said. ‘They must renew the strength of American positive examples [separate] from military measures. American policy should share responsibility with global issues. America must invite global partners to solve these problems.’

Kwasniewski charged the future president to take on a new approach regarding America’s foreign relations operations, because the United States has come a long way since it was the only global super power.

‘America was the one super power for 20 years,’ Kwasniewski said. ‘Their unilateralism was a success story, but unilateralism is finished. Multilateralism is now.’

Walt, who spoke after Kwasniewski, said the United States can still survive in this multilateral climate.’

‘The unipolar moment is over, but the U.S. is still strong,’ he said. ‘We are not going from having four aces to a pair of threes. We still have a good hand to play.’

The United States is not facing a ‘crisis of confidence, but a crisis of competence,’ Walt said, and ‘needs to set a lofty standard for competence.’

Jeremy Weiss, a second year PhD candidate for political science, said he was impressed with Kwasniewski’s ‘flexibility over the election.’

‘If we are going to be the most powerful country given that the uni-polar moment has ended, we must be cognizant of how other countries will react,’ Weiss said. ‘If we expect to affect our agenda, we have to know other countries are not static.’

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One Comment

  1. Jennifer Garlick

    This article was very informative! Go Poland!