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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis analyzes key factors in Poland's decision-making concerning the European Union's European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP). It reviews the development of Polish policy concerning the ESDP and the main considerations that have guided Polish assessments in this regard. Poland's position as a member of NATO and as a candidate for membership in the European Union and other factors affecting perceptions of the ESDP in Poland are discussed to throw light on the controversy associated with Poland's participation in the ESDP and to clarify possible implications for the future. With Poland's admission to the EU in May 2004, Warsaw will have an opportunity to contribute to ESDP formation and implementation. However, Poland will probably remain committed to maintaining NATO's primacy and cautious regarding concepts of transforming the EU into an autonomous military power, especially with respect to collective defense. / Lieutenant, Polish Army

After the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism in Poland, the main goal for the Polish nation was integration into the Western collective security organizations. Poland's democratically elected politicians initiated a process that aimed at NATO membership for Poland. The first steps included adjustment of Polish civil-military relations, diplomatic efforts to push for early inclusion, and the adoption of a democratic constitution. Polish determination, in conjunction with the U.S. steps influencing NATO decision-making to enlarge the Alliance finally resulted in NATO inclusion of Poland in 1999. This thesis seeks to determine which forces, events and personalities contributed to Poland's NATO membership. Moreover this thesis will be a useful example for such future potential NATO members such as Ukraine and Croatia in their applications for NATO membership. The steps that Poland took to comply with NATO requirements, as well as the manner in which Polish diplomats pushed for enlargement, could be used as an example to follow. Additionally, descriptions of the United States' and other NATO members' policies and contributions to NATO enlargement will allow for understanding of the importance of the organization.

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The main aim of this thesis is to add to the understanding of how religion interacts with politics in modern Europe. It discusses the largely under-researched relationship between Euroscepticism and religion and argues that despite the theory of secularisation, which assumes an ever-increasing marginalisation of the role of religion in the public sphere, religious beliefs still play an important role in the world of politics. This study firstly analyses the phenomenon of political Catholicism, providing a concise definition and identifying the primary and secondary features of this movement. Secondly, it discusses how, under certain circumstances, political Catholicism, which in general is a movement that strongly supported European integration, can adopt a Eurosceptic stance. Empirically, this study focuses on the case of Poland, but places the results in the context of 15 other European countries. It analyses primary data gathered through documentary research (party manifestos, public statements, Church documents) and a number of interviews with party members. Additional information was collected from interviews with journalists, an expert survey and secondary literature in the field of EU studies and religion and politics. The key argument of this thesis is that Polish political Catholicism is a distinct phenomenon in Europe because of its markedly visible Euroscepticism. Its opposition to Europe stems from an intrinsic feature of the movement, namely its Catholic-nationalist nature. This attribute developed as a result of Polish history, characterised by long periods of struggle for independence from alien forces, whereby belonging to Catholicism gradually became an essential element of belonging to the Polish nation, helping to define the 'Us' vs. the 'Other'. Consequently, Polish political Catholicism started perceiving the EU as an organisation based on 'alien', secular values, which could endanger Polish national identity, Polish society and ultimately the state. In broader terms, this study contributes to the general discussion on the causality of party-based Euroscepticism. It also provides a comparative outlook on political Catholicism in Europe, arguing that there is a gap between Western and Central and Eastern European strands of this movement, resulting mainly from different historical circumstances in which the movement developed in both regions.

This thesis investigates the relationship between the Capital Account Liberalization (CAL) process and changes in productivity in light of theoretical and empirical studies. It also presents a significant investigation into the nature and evolution of the capital control process, through a cross-country analysis and individual country analysis of Poland during the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s. In addition, this thesis analyses the determinants of capital controls in the cross-countries analysis. Then, this thesis presents a profile of the Polish productivity distribution across manufacturing sectors, structure and level of the capital control process and sector characteristics, and an analysis of how these have changed over time. The empirical results are derived through an application of the best practices and techniques of productivity estimation on sector level data. Chapter 1 provides the description of key reforms in Poland and the structure of these thesis. Chapter 2, discusses strengths and weaknesses of various CAL measures and presents different trends of CAL measures. Chapter 3 employs selected CAL measures in a cross-county analysis, investigating the determinants of the CAL process. Chapter 4 analyses the trends of productivity in Poland. Chapter 5 analyses the CAL effect on manufacturing sector productivity by including sector financial dependence, sector investment and trade openness, and then compares this results with sectoral proxy for CAL measures. Chapter 6 concludes by discussing the results and provides a possible avenue for further research.

This paper examines the specific case of migration flows from Poland to the UK in the wake of the 2004 EU enlargement. Beginning with an analysis of the prevailing theories of migration, which attempt to both describe and predict the phenomenon, the paper moves on to an empirical analysis of migration flows in both Poland and the UK in the years immediately following enlargement. The effects of these flows on the internal market of the UK are examined through a comparison with other exogenous migration shocks that have impacted other countries in recent history. Finally, an attempt is made to evaluate the prevailing theories analyzed earlier in light of the empirical evidence.

"A concise version of ... (the author's)--doctoral dissertation: 'The United States and the Polish exiles of 1831' submitted in 1953 to ... Georgetown University." / Bibliography: p. 221-230.

Thesis--Marburg. / Includes bibliographical references (p. i-xxiii).