With the debate over the placement of American defense missiles in Eastern Europe raging on, Radek Sikorski finds himself at the forefront of Polish politics once again in his esteemed career.

    Born in Poland during its years under Soviet control, Sikorski’s path to becoming a leading republican politician started early in his life. After leaving Poland due to his open support for the Solidarity movement, Sikorski first made his name as a journalist in Britain. He gained notoriety for his extensive coverage of the Russo-Afghanistan conflict.

    Upon his return to Poland in the early 1990s, Sikorski began a fine political career, holding numerous offices in the Polish government. He has served as the Deputy Defense Minister, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and, until his resignation this February, the Minister of National Defense.

    Although he is not currently holding an office in the government, Radek Sikorski continues to be a major figure in Polish politics. He has become a leading opponent in Poland of the American plan to install defense missiles throughout Eastern Europe.

    Sikorski’s position against the United States on this particular issue marks a change in his philosophy of how the Polish should act when dealing with Washington. He has been in favor of supporting the United States throughout his career, pointing back to the American support for the independence and democratization of Poland in the late 1980s.

    In an article written for the Washington Post, Sikorski points to a number of factors that have led him, along with a large portion of the Polish population, to question how supportive Poland should be of the United States. In his mind, the war in Iraq has done serious damage to the trust of the United States felt throughout Poland.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/20/AR2007032001427.html

    Aside from feeling misled in the entrance to Iraq, the Polish believe that their investment in the conflict has not produced an adequate return. Sikorski believes that people are no longer willing to support the United States without gaining significant benefit for themselves. The desire to gain certain benefits from their relationship with the United States signals a belief among the population of Poland that they should have an equal partnership with the United States instead of simply helping America pursue its own personal interests.

    This new attitude, according to Sikorski, has grown because the Polish population no longer feels the support Americans gave them against the Soviet regime is enough of a reason to lend their support to the United States. Sikorski believes the Polish want to see more benefits for Poland coming from their relationship with America. He provides the example of the lack of a response from NATO to Russia’s increased missile armament to show how little support the United States has provided to Poland in recent years. Unlike in the past, Sikorski states that the Polish will no longer accept promises of protection from the American government without seeing real efforts being made to bolster the country’s defense against possible Russian aggression.

    In Sikorski’s mind, the Polish-American relationship can move forward in harmony when the United States begins to view its partners in the world as equals and not simply as its servants. When the American government begins to view Poland as an equal partner, he believes that the two countries will be able to move forward in “a partnership that enhances the security of both.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/20/AR2007032001427.html

    With the hotly debated issue of installing a missile defense system in Poland moving to the vanguard of international politics, Radek Sikorski has become a leading figure in the move to gain equal footing for Poland in its relationship with the United States. Due to his immense popularity throughout the country, he possesses an influential voice that will surely be a primary factor in the evolution of Poland’s role on the international stage.