Pokój i bezpieczeństwo

We are currently witnessing the erosion of the global leadership gained by the United States after the ‘Cold War’. After several decades, the hegemonic status has been undermined due to the dynamics of polarisation processes and the deconcentration of power. These phenomena are associated with the emergence of centres of power counterbalancing the US, which is called multipolarisation (China, India, Russia, Brazil and others).
The processes of delegitimisation of the hegemonic role of the US are accompanied by paroxysms and convulsions, caused by a lack of self-restraint in the rivalry of powers, a loss of civilisational primacy of the integrated West, and errors in diagnosing the sources of threats. The existing developmental models of capitalism are also failing. ‘Liberal internationalism’ and globalisation based on the assumptions of neoliberalism are failing.
The risk of global conflict is primarily conditioned by the unbridled arms race and the successive unveiling of ideological rivalries in international relations. The most catastrophic consequences are the lowering of the threshold of strategic restraint before the use of weapons of mass destruction. It is becoming a necessity to respect the mutually assured destruction mechanism known from the ‘Cold War’ in the US–Russia–China triangle. With the preservation of the system of counterbalancing powers, there is hope that instability on the periphery of the international system (including Ukraine and the Middle East) will not spill over into the centre of geopolitical competition.

The issues of armament and arms control in the concepts of establishing and maintaining peace (including perpetual peace) emerged after the conclusion of the Thirty Years’ War and the Peace of Westphalia. Among many proposals, it was only after many years that the concept of the English lawyer, philosopher, and economist Jeremy Bentham was developed. This concept, which can be described as a sufficiently complementary plan for universal and lasting peace, placed a strong emphasis on the issue of armament, with the foundation being a social contract. Bentham writes: “Armament always leads to wars. The faster and more intense the armament, the greater the risk of war breaking out.” He also proposed (as it turned out, utopian) “putting an end to technological-military innovations.”

This text is devoted to the qualitative arms race and to the factors influencing its constant acceleration. It responds also to a question whether it is possible to slow down this process. The arms race is a phenomenon known to humanity over ages. It took place in stages. Through most of our times it has had an evolutionary character. Its first stage lasted several thousand of years. It was marked by a race between a “sword” and a “shield” and was fueled gradually by haphazard technical improvements in the relatively simple tools of the armed battle. This slow evolution speeded up in the send stage, initiated by the industrial revolution of the XVIII century. The enormous progress of science and technology of this period made possible to create several types of armaments, which we know until today. The new weaponry enabled to carry battles on the land, on- and under the water, in the air. The destructive power, range of fire, maneuverability and effectiveness of military actions rapidly expanded. The results of these improvements humanity learned during the I and the II world wars. During these times the ability to technically surprise the enemy, based on the scientific and technological prowess, and on the state’s industrial basis, became a decisive element. The culmination of this stage was an advent of the nuclear weaponry, obtained in the middle of the XX century. An era of the rapid developments in the strategic weapons’ arsenals has begun. The proliferation of nuclear weapons commensurate with the production of various means of weapons’ delivery led to the “nuclear pat” between a group of states dominating on the international scene. The ensuing balance between the “mass destruction” potentials did not stop the arms race in the conventional weaponry. A fast development of the computer technology, electronics and new materials resulted at the beginning of the XXI century in appearance of the precision-guided, “intelligent” non-conventional conventional weapons. The remotely controlled arms were developed which diminished the human factors in its applications. The automatization of weapon systems entered the era of quantum technology and of the “artificial intelligence”. There are many factors, intra-state and international, described in the text, which “drive” the innovativeness in the military arsenals. According to this author there exist today no possibilities to restrain or to stop these processes altogether.

The most important feature of the modern security environment is its complexity. It is expressed not only in qualitatively new threats, challenges, risks and opportunities, but also in their close connection and mutual conditioning. All this means that the old approach to ensuring security in its separate areas is no longer sufficient. An integrated, comprehensive approach is needed. Such a practice has been taking shape for years. Therefore, this publication signals the need to introduce a new category into strategic analyses called “the art of security”, which would reflect this new reality. The art of security is proposed to be understood as the theory and practice of formulating strategies, operational concepts and programs for the preparation of integrated national and international security systems. The following parts of the publication shed light on the basic practical issues of the art of security of the 21st century in the conditions of the Second Cold War. This applies in particular to the characteristics of the neo-war security environment and the necessary adaptation of NATO to its conditions.

States wage wars, usually in the name of security, justice or peace. Every time we go to war, people ask the exact same question: why? In the 20th century, answers were sought many times, referring both to the tragedy of human life, but also to the stimuli that shape human life. They were also posed by Einstein and Freud, who wanted to get closer to solving one of the age-old problems, as well as countless other thinkers. Non-military security factors are crucial – law, the ideological foundations of the state, security (including financial security), a sense of community and responsibility for the common good, trust of citizens in the state, the state in its citizens and among its citizens.

The study presents the specifics of the African continent in the context of increasing threats to peace and security. To identify the main threats to peace and security, an analysis of the level and causes of mortality was conducted. Consequently, the analysis examined the life expectancy at birth from the 1960s to 2022, the number of deaths, and their causes, both at the continental level and in selected countries where issues of peace and security pose particular challenges. The analysis of causes of death in Africa allowed for the identification of key areas of challenge for both the countries of the continent and the global community. Besides, areas of potential developmental opportunities for African nations were identified. As a result of the conducted research, a thesis was formulated that developmental advancement is a fundamental guarantor of peace and security in Africa. The sine qua non condition for realizing this scenario – as highlighted previously in discussions by the Committee of Future Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Nawrot, 2023) – is the maintenance of peace and security both in the region and globally. However, this remains the greatest challenge of the coming decades of the first half of the 21st century at the global level.

The paper presents the thesis that migration is a global problem that requires the efforts of many countries. The mechanism that intensifies migration is the progressive income and educational stratification of societies and entire regions. Numerous armed conflicts and civil wars force millions of people to flee and look for places to live, often in distant countries. Living conditions in Sub-Saharan African countries are exceptionally difficult for tens of millions of inhabitants. One of the important reasons for the lack of progress in the development of the economies of African countries is the poor education of societies, tens of millions of children are not subject to compulsory education. Arguments were presented for launching a broad international program of assistance in building education systems in African countries. Migration problems can be alleviated by avoiding armed conflicts and improving living conditions in the countries of residence.

The aim of this chapter is to indicate the reasons for the diversity of the demographic situation in the modern world and to determine how demographic security can be currently defined. On the one hand, there was a presentation of theoretical concepts explaining this differentiation, and on the other

Environmental threats are increasingly affecting the loss of national security and may even be felt on a planet-wide scale. Civilisational progress means that the nature of these threats is changing, and their impact is growing. The threats result from the destruction of the natural environment and the overexploitation of available resources. These processes result from the growing human population and from the growing individual human pressure on the environment. The article indicates that despite the increasingly visible symptoms of increasing environmental threats, there are no initiatives to reduce the risk of their occurrence. For this reason, it is necessary to include in the safety policy the processes of adaptation to changing environmental conditions.

The aim of this research is to present the state of food security worldwide at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century. The primary empirical material utilized in this study is data from the international database FAOSTAT. The research methods employed include the statistical-descriptive method and critical analysis of relevant literature. The right to food is a fundamental human right; however, it remains unfulfilled in many countries around the world. Although global food production is sufficient to feed a population of 10 billion people, 733.4 million individuals out of the current global population of over 8 billion still suffer from hunger. In 2023, it was estimated that 28.9% of the global population – approximately 2.3 billion people – were experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity, meaning they lacked regular access to adequate food. The COVID-19 pandemic and the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine have highlighted the vulnerabilities of the global agri-food system and disparities across various regions of the world, leading to a further increase in global hunger and food insecurity. In an increasingly unstable world, governments across the globe must prioritize ensuring food security. It is essential to develop long-term, sustainable, and equitable food systems. To meet the demands of a growing global population, innovative solutions must be implemented to transform agri-food systems and ensure sustainable diets that benefit both people and the planet.

The aim of this article is to show the most important implications of a broad understanding of peace for thinking about peace education. In the first part of the reflection, I recall a narrow definition of peace with its roots in antiquity. I point out its inadequacy in relation to complex peace processes and recall the selected traditions of a broad understanding for peace. I also point out the most important trends in contemporary reflection on peace, highlighting the polysemantics of the term “peace” and the multifaceted and dynamic nature of peace processes. In the second part of the article, I list and discuss the most important implications of such a broad conception of peace for thinking about peace education. These are: the need to appreciate the role of education in building peace and to recognize it in this context as a factor as important as the actions of politicians and world leaders; the need to think about education for peace in an open way, always unfulfilled and permanently inscribed in human education; and the recognition as the fundamental mission of education for peace to develop in man a sense of subjectivity, personal responsibility for peace and awareness of responsibility in this area.

Człowiek jest częścią ludzkości i kosmosu. Konsekwencją tego powinien być świat bez wojen. Różnorodność kulturowa nie powinna utrudniać relacji braterstwa. Niestety, człowiek jest jedynym gatunkiem, który toczy ze sobą wojny. Absurdalne jest, że stwarza świat kultury i jednocześnie wywołuje wojny, które niszczą ten świat. Przyjmuje się pogląd, że natura człowieka jest społeczna i jednocześnie głosi się, że wojny z konieczności towarzyszą ludzkości. Paradoksem są wojny mimo wiedzy o negatywnych zmianach psychiki człowieka, do których one prowadzą. Wskazuje się jako fundamentalną wartość życie człowieka, formułuje się prawa człowieka i jednocześnie zwiększa się wydatki na zbrojenia. Brakuje szacunku dla pacyfistów do których należą między innymi niektóre mniejszościowe wyznania religijne. Paradoksem jest też to, że większość ekologów nie głosi pacyfizmu. Za zabicie człowieka na wojnie otrzymuje się ordery, a za zabicie w czasach pokoju zostaje się skazanym do więzienia. Ci, którzy wyrażają aprobatę dla wojen są często zaciekłymi przeciwnikami prawa kobiet do przerywania ciąży i prawa do eutanazji. Głosi się wartość globalizacji, a prawidłowo rozumiana pozostaje w sprzeczności ze zgodą na prowadzenie wojen.