American perspective on Poland's ambitions to become the leader of Central and Eastern Europe in the face of the war in Ukraine

Abstract

The article analyzes and assesses the American perspective on the ambitions of the Polish Law and Justice authorities to become the leader of Central and Eastern Europe in the context of the war in Ukraine. The research question is whether Poland is perceived by the American authorities as the leader of Central and Eastern Europe and to what extent the war in Ukraine has an impact on this? The hypothesis assumes that Poland's decisive actions in response to the war in Ukraine had a significant positive impact on the American perception of Poland's potential leadership role in the region. Regional integration projects co-initiated by Poland in recent years also had a positive impact. Whether Poland will deepen the image of the CEE leader will depend to a large extent on the outcome of the war in Ukraine and the ability of the Polish authorities to capitalize on the role that Poland played during the war. In order to find an answer to the research question, interviews were conducted with scientists and experts from research institutes in Washington D. C.and New York. During the research, experts and scientists from research institutions in Washington D. C. and New York were interviewed. Selected documents and political statements were also examined using the method of content analysis of text sources.