The aim of the planned research is to analyze the ongoing processes of development of the internal and foreign policy of the Third Polish Republic in the current century and the challenges arising from them. This analysis and the conclusions drawn from it are intended to expand objective knowledge about them, thanks to which existing and future challenges can be met at the lowest cost.

As far as internal politics is concerned, the most important subject of the study is the evolution of Poland’s political system and an attempt to answer the question in which direction it is heading – further consolidation of liberal democracy, or, on the contrary, its significant limitation, and thus the pursuit of illiberal democracy in the foreseeable future, and consequently towards defective authoritarianism. An important element of political processes in Poland are election campaigns in which populism appears. An analysis of the causes and degree of populism in the 2018 parliamentary elections and the current 2020 presidential campaign will allow us to draw conclusions about the threats and challenges it brings for the further evolution of not only political but also social and economic development. The dynamics of internal political processes in our country may be compounded by the disturbing phenomenon of terrorism, which has become so visible in many Western European countries. It constitutes a constant challenge for the Polish authorities. To meet it, it needs to be constantly analyzed. Therefore, the question arises what the “face” of modern terrorism is, which is different in individual European countries. Thanks to a comparative analysis of this phenomenon in Poland and a selected Western European country, we can identify the differences and intensity of its occurrence, and thus determine ways of dealing with it in different conditions. However, for the fight against terrorism to be effective, cooperation within the European Union is important.

This collaboration is another important area of ​​analysis. The political processes taking place in Poland in recent years may affect its future in the European Union, and thus its position in the international arena. Can Polexit happen? What conditions must be met for Polexit to become a reality? Is it possible to achieve Polexit despite the opinion of Polish society? This is another important research area. The evolution of Polish-French economic relations will be analyzed. It is supposed to answer, among others: to the question of how dynamically they are developing and whether it is possible to eliminate the asymmetry unfavorable for Poland in them in the coming decades. The next research areas will be selected eastern countries in Polish foreign policy in the context of economic cooperation, including the Russian Federation.

Team members: prof. dr hab. Jerzy Kornaś (Full Professor), dr hab. Joanna Dzwończyk, prof. UEK (Associate Professor), dr Łukasz Danel (Assistant Professor), dr Dominika Karwoth-Zielińska (Assistant Professor), dr Karolina Kotulewicz-Wisińska (Assistant Professor), dr Agnieszka Latosińska (Assistant Professor), dr Rafał Lisiakiewicz (Assistant Professor),  mgr Piotr Głogowski