Mark Brzezinsk, the U.S. Ambassador to Poland, not too long ago visited the College of Miami to ship a compelling lecture, titled “US-Poland 2024: A New Period of Safety Collaboration.” His speech centered on the evolving nature of the U.S.-Poland partnership with NATO and Poland’s involvement within the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian Conflict.
Brzezinski’s journey to changing into a number one voice in worldwide affairs started together with his spectacular training, holding an undergraduate diploma from Dartmouth School, a Juris Physician from the College of Virginia and a PhD in Political Science from the College of Oxford. He served because the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden from 2011 to 2015, and has been the U.S. Ambassador to Poland since 2022.
For Brzezinski, NATO is greater than a navy alliance — it embodies a framework of shared values and collective protection. Throughout his lecture, he emphasised the significance NATO performs in worldwide affairs, and the way collective motion is critical to fixing troublesome issues.
“The glue, once more, that holds all this collectively is our participation collectively in a very powerful protection alliance in historical past: NATO,” he stated.
Within the opening portion of his lecture, Brzezinski analyzed the various ranges of democratic engagement throughout nations. He expressed admiration for Poland’s current electoral turnout and outcomes from this previous election. Voter turnout in Poland’s 2023 election was outstanding, reaching 74.4%. This excessive stage of civic engagement is extensively thought to be the driving issue behind the success of the Civic Coalition, a Polish political alliance that was beforehand not in energy. With these key votes, the Civic Coalition obtained the parliamentary majority, permitting them to type the following authorities.
“People, democracy is underneath strain all world wide, and there’s a number of cynicism in regards to the democratic experiment, [but] not in Poland,” he stated. “Younger Poles turned out in document numbers to vote within the parliamentary elections final 12 months. What occurred was an superior instance of civic engagement from voters throughout Poland’s political spectrum, the place data [indicated] simply how necessary democracy is to the Polish folks.”
A good portion of Ambassador Brzezinski’s speak centered on the battle in Ukraine, commending Poland for its response to the refugee disaster.
“Poland stands for instance. No query about that,” Brzezinski stated. “The response of Polish younger folks in all this has been unprecedented. They’ve stepped up in outstanding methods to assist refugees, main with empathy.”
In response to the Ukrainian refugee disaster brought on by the Russian invasion, Poland opened its borders and introduced in tens of millions of refugees fleeing the battle, with residents providing housing, transportation, and monetary help. In a brief time period, The Polish authorities applied a nationwide coverage to make sure each arriving Ukrainian refugee could be positioned in a Polish dwelling or house, granting them the identical authorized rights as Polish residents, apart from the precise to vote. He drew a considerate analogy as an instance the magnitude of Poland’s response to the Ukraine disaster.
“What occurred in Poland in these first few months after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is as if President Biden went on nationwide tv in america and stated, ‘Fellow Individuals, we now have 6 million Hondurans, Guatemalans, El Salvadorans coming throughout the US-Mexico border, and it will likely be our coverage to put each a type of arriving refugees into somebody’s dwelling.’ That occurred, and it labored.”
His perception introduced consideration to the immense efforts from Polish residents and their important impression within the Russo-Ukrainian Conflict.
Brzezinski additionally addressed the dangers Poland confronted by supporting Ukraine, whereas noting that they haven’t been actualized within the final three years. That is shocking, contemplating the tensions with Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Poland’s steady assist for Ukraine could possibly be perceived as a direct menace to Putin, who has proven a propensity to view such challenges as acts of treason.
Brzezinski argued that this dangerous success was and nonetheless is a testomony to the soundness of NATO and its protection.
“Earlier than this, it was a wager. Now we all know that it really works,” he stated.
Brzezinski closed his message by tying Poland’s efforts and NATO’s energy collectively, by explaining that regardless of becoming a member of NATO extra not too long ago than different nations, Poland has stepped up and change into “a frontrunner within the convention.”
“Poles have a motto: ‘On your freedom and ours’… that sums up what it means to be united by the particular bond throughout oceans in time,” he stated.