Poland NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY
Armor crew checking terrain on maneuvers.
Courtesy Polish Information Agency, Warsaw
Trainees moving in camouflage on field exercise.
Courtesy Polish Information Agency, Warsaw
In mid-1991, the Warsaw Pact ceased to function as a
military
alliance, ending the dominating role of that organization
in
Polish national defense. Poland's approach to national
security
changed drastically, but the change really was a return to
the
geopolitical fundamentals that had formed the nation's
long-term
threat perception and military doctrine. Poland sought a
new
balance among its immediate neighbors (including Russia
and
Germany) and new security arrangements with other states,
such as
Hungary and the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic
(CSFR--see Glossary),
that were also emerging from Soviet domination.
Like
Poland, those nations now felt exposed on all sides. They
were
free to determine their own future, but they were also
solely
responsible for the results of their political and
national
security choices.
Data as of October 1992
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