WARSAW - President Bush came to Poland recently and solemnly thanked Polish authorities for their support in the Iraq war. Some Western commentators tried to lampoon that event, saying such gratitude is exaggerated because Poland sent only 300 soldiers into the Iraqi desert. When it came to light that one of four administration zones will be overseen by the Poles (and two-thirds of the costs of this action covered by U.S. government), you could read it as an example of affirmative action in international affairs.
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Rafal Geremek is a staff writer for Wprost, a weekly newsmagazine in Poland (r.geremek@wprost.pl). He worked at the Post-Gazette in 2001 as an Alfred Friendly Press Fellow. | | |
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The United States invests in a new ally when it's good business. Polish intelligence cooperates with the CIA closely, since 1991, when it smuggled American agents through the Turkey-Iraq border right before the Gulf war. Polish engineers will be helpful in the reconstruction of Iraq because in the 1970s and '80s they built roads and factories there. Poland, a country of 38 million people between East and West, is a good sentinel. It can be useful in balancing German and French influence in this region.
But there is one more reason that the Americans are very eager to support Poland. The new ally seems to be stable in its feelings toward the United States. Poles really like America. Since the beginning of the 1990s, 60 to 80 percent of Poles declare an affinity toward Americans. The majority of the population opposes foreign investment with one exception: American capital is welcomed. Sociologists called Poland the most pro-American country in the world. It's an accurate statement.
Why is that so?
Polish people know that Polish jokes are still popular across the ocean, but few immigrants suffer real discrimination. There are more and more successful young Polish people in the United States and our press covers that trend. We know it's a false stereotype that the only things Polish people contributed to American civilization are hard labor, kielbasa and pierogi. Tadeusz Sendzimir was an engineer who had patented a rolling mill that could roll very hard materials down to very light gauges (an important thing in Pittsburgh). Steve Wozniak was one of the founders of Apple Computers. The Wachowski brothers, creators of the "Matrix" movies, come from an assimilated Polish family in Chicago. There are many people who achieved the American dream, and they tell our compatriots about that.
Poles don't feel secure in Western Europe. Firstly, France and Britain are not perceived as a good allies. People remember that they didn't help our country in 1939, when Nazis invaded Poland. President Franklin Roosevelt also was not very devoted to the Polish cause, but Poles have forgotten about that. President Reagan is perceived as a liberator of our country, because he put the Soviet Union in a military competition it couldn't sustain. (Plans exist in Poland to build monuments to him after he passes away.)
Western Europeans, in contrast to Americans, very often treat us as kids or second-class Europeans. When Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary supported the United States in efforts to oust Saddam Hussein, French President Jacques Chirac sniffed: "It is not well-brought-up behavior. They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet."
Average Poles are fed up with their arrogance. Many Polish managers working abroad say, for example, that in London or Berlin people can't stand that a Pole can be their boss. A Polish executive who moved from Germany to the United States has remarked: "It's an amazing country. The only thing they estimate is your competence. I suffocated in Berlin, I started to fly in New York." There are many stories like that.
Ninety-five percent of Poles describe themselves as religious people. Approximately the same number of Americans declare that they believe in God. Together with Ireland, my nation is a rare species in the European garden. To strong believers, the United States is good example that a modern society doesn't have to be devoid of religious expression. Poles miss the times when we were strong; in the 16th and 17th centuries, Poland was one of the leading powers on the Continent. But at that time Poland was successful mostly because it was a very open country and tolerant toward immigrants with different backgrounds. What can be more American? Ask Polish historians.
For artists, although they like to complain about Hollywood movies, success in America is like the ultimate exam of how much they are worth. That's why Andrzej Wajda, the Polish movie director who received an Oscar in 2000 for his body of work, was welcomed in Krakow like a victorious general returning from the war.
The economists and businessmen see that there is a widening gap in productivity between Europe and America. They call for us to follow solutions applied in the United States. Poles, especially young people, love the output of American mass culture. What we really must do is embrace the American work ethic and habit of creativity.
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