IWP prides itself on its scholars-practitioners. Their ideas find practical application in the realm of statecraft not only in the United States but also abroad. This is, for instance, the case with the recent call for a referendum to unite Belarus and Poland. After the idea of a federation in the post-Soviet zone was floated at IWP, the initiative has been taken up by some in the Belarusan opposition.
We are pleased to see that our ideas have consequences. For several years now, the Kościuszko Chair has involved itself in the Intermarium project, popularizing the history and current affairs of the lands between the Black and Baltic Seas. Professor Marek Chodakiewicz has not only written a book on the topic (scheduled to be published in the fall of 2012) but, since September, has also held a series of lectures on the region. The lectures are open to the public and available on the www.iwp.edu website.
A few of our guests at the lectures, and web site readers, are connected to the anti-Lukashenka opposition. They translated and posted one of the Intermarium lectures, regarding Moldova, Ukraine, and Belarus.
Then they discussed the feasibility of a federation or a confederation between Belarus and Poland:
The story has been since picked up by the opposition’s main newspaper, Narodnaia Volia (11 April 2012) and twice by the cultural-historical periodica, ARCHE (articles here and here), which enjoys mostly intellectual readership.
And the debate continues, including a proposal to create “the United States of the Intermarium.”
We are glad that some in Belarus like the idea of the Intermarium and appreciate the memory of the old Rzeczpospolita, the Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth. We are also pleased that the Intermarium project at IWP has helped to stimulate discussion among the dissidents of Belarus.