A United States of Europe? Amerykańscy ojcowie zjednoczonej Europy u progu zimnej wojny (1945-1957)

It was George Washington who many authors claim first expressed the wish, often reported by Americans, that „one day, on the model of the United States of America a United States of Europe will come into being”. In fact, the idea seems to have been launched by 19th century European federalists, yet it could not materialize until the dawn of the Cold War. Not only did the Truman administration’s reappraisal of US global security interests and its role in the world lead to their support, but to their relentless promotion of Europe’s economic, political and military integration. Out of their mixed idealistic and pragmatic motivation, the Washington establishment argued that, if united along the American model, a federal Europe would overcome its traditional problems (national rivalries and wasting its economic potential) while, on the other hand, it would also reduce US responsibility for the well-being of the Western world. However, as post-war normalization set in, the leaders of Western Europe grew increasingly skeptical of American federalist visions, while Washington responded with ever more resolute threats of withdrawing its forces from Europe. It was not until the ultimate failure of the EDC/EPC project that the Eisenhower administration modified its European policy, coming to terms with the end of federalism and the triumph of functionalism.Już George Waszyngton miał wyrazić często przywoływane później przez Amerykanów życzenie, by na wzór Stanów Zjednoczonych Ameryki powstały również Stany Zjednoczone Europy. W rzeczywistości idea ta narodziła się zapewne wśród europejskich federalistów w XIX w., realne kształty mogła zaś przybrać dopiero u progu zimnej wojny. Dokonana wówczas przez administrację Harry’ego Trumana redefinicja globalnych interesów USA oraz ich roli w świecie prowadziła w konsekwencji nie tylko do wsparcia, ale wręcz zdecydowanego promowania koncepcji ekonomicznej, politycznej i militarnej integracji europejskiej. Kierując się mieszanką pobudek idealistycznych i pragmatycznych waszyngtońska elita oceniała, że zjednoczona w oparciu o amerykańskie wzorce Europa federalna z jednej strony przezwycięży w ten sposób swe odwieczne problemy (rywalizacja narodowa i marnotrawienie potencjału ekonomicznego), z drugiej zaś - odciąży USA od części odpowiedzialności za losy świata zachodniego. W miarę normalizacji sytuacji w Europie Zachodniej po II wojnie światowej jej przywódcy wykazywali jednak coraz mniejszy entuzjazm wobec amerykańskich planów federacji, na co Waszyngton reagował coraz bardziej stanowczymi groźbami pozbawienia Europy swego parasola ochronnego. Dopiero ostateczna klęska projektów EWO i EWP spowodowała zmianę polityki administracji Eisenhowera, oznaczającą pogodzenie się ze zmierzchem idei federalistycznej oraz triumfem funkcjonalizmu

Back to the Future. The Aftermath of Poland’s 2023 Parliamentary Election

On 15th October 2023 Polish voters decided to put an end to the 8-year period of the Law and Justice Party in power, widely seen as “authoritarian populism”. The paper analyses the electoral programmes of the major contenders (Law and Justice, Civic Coalition, Third Way, New Left and Confederation) as well as a variety of election-related statistics (e.g. by voters’ age, education, occupation and residence) revealing a more complex image of the Polish society and its political preferences in 2023. The author argues that due to remarkable ideological and socio-cultural polarization contemporary Poland remains “a house divided” or even “two nations [with] no sympathy [for each other]”. Even if Poland has now chosen a path back to the future, the new pro-EU liberal government will face a number of identifiable challenges.On 15th October 2023 Polish voters decided to put an end to the 8-year period of the Law and Justice Party in power, widely seen as “authoritarian populism”. The paper analyses the electoral programmes of the major contenders (Law and Justice, Civic Coalition, Third Way, New Left and Confederation) as well as a variety of election-related statistics (e.g. by voters’ age, education, occupation and residence) revealing a more complex image of the Polish society and its political preferences in 2023. The author argues that due to remarkable ideological and socio-cultural polarization contemporary Poland remains “a house divided” or even “two nations [with] no sympathy [for each other]”. Even if Poland has now chosen a path back to the future, the new pro-EU liberal government will face a number of identifiable challenges

Impact of MBE-grown (In,Ga)As/GaAs metamorphic buffers on excitonic and optical properties of single quantum dots with single-photon emission tuned to the telecom range

Tuning GaAs-based quantum emitters to telecom wavelengths makes it possible to use the existing mature technology for applications in, e.g., long-haul ultra-secure communication in the fiber networks. A promising method re-developed recently is to use a metamorphic InGaAs buffer that redshifts the emission by reducing strain. However, the impact of such a buffer causes also a simultaneous modification of other quantum dot properties. Knowledge of these effects is crucial for actual implementations of QD-based non-classical light sources for quantum communication schemes. Here, we thoroughly study single GaAs-based quantum dots grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on specially designed, digital-alloy InGaAs metamorphic buffers. With a set of structures varying in the buffer indium content and providing quantum dot emission through the telecom spectral range up to 1.6 $\mu$m, we analyze the impact of the buffer and its composition on QD structural and optical properties. We identify the mechanisms of quantum dot emission shift with varying buffer composition. We also look into the charge trapping processes and compare excitonic properties for different growth conditions with single-dot emission successfully shifted to both, the second and the third telecom windows.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure

Zespół nakładania wariantu wzrokowego choroby Alzheimera i zespołu korowo-podstawnego – opis przypadku

Zespół nakładania chorób neurozwyrodnieniowych to współwystępowanie objawów klinicznych lub zmian histopatologicznych typowych dla różnych schorzeń z tej grupy u jednego chorego. Złożony obraz kliniczny zespołów nakładania może stwarzać trudności diagnostyczne i lecznicze. Autorzy przedstawiają przypadek 64-letniej chorej z rozpoznaniem zaniku korowego tylnego (wariant wzrokowy choroby Alzheimera), do którego po kilku latach dołączyły się objawy zespołu korowo-podstawnego

Constructing collective memory through a documentary. The case of “The Italian Americans” (PBS, 2015)

The present paper is a case study of the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) series: “The Italian Americans” (2015). It is argued that the series’ authors have aimed to deconstruct the anti-Italian stereotype, widespread in the United States. In exchange, they have proposed a new, positive image of the Italian community in America promoting the accomplishments of its prominent members. The entire PBS project, “The American Experience”, reflects an evolution of U.S. identity patterns from the homogeneous “melting pot” toward the diverse “salad bowl”, and hence – from monologue to polylogue

Faszyzm włoski wobec kwestii żydowskiej 1919–1938

ITALIAN FASCISM ON THE JEWISH QUESTION DURING THE 1919–1938 PERIODThe purpose of the paper is to present an issue, little-known in Poland, of an approach of Italian Fascism to the Jewish question until the time of the publication of the racist manifesto 1938. The article analyzes the evolution of the Fascist regime’s policies towards Jews during the 1919–1937 period, attempting to explain the origin of the decision to start their discrimination and persecution. In liberal Italy the phenomenon of anti-Semitism did not exist, except for some Catholic circles. Seizing political power in 1922, Mussolini’s regime did not reveal any intentions to change this state of affairs. From the very beginning, both Jews and anti-Semites for instance, Preziosi, Orano or Interlandi were represented in the Fascist ranks. Up until 1934 mutual relations remained very positive, which was symbolized by Fascist Italy’s ambitions to extend its patronage to the Zionist movement in order to facilitate its own colonial conquests. There is acontinuing scholarly debate over the reasons for the change of this policy during the 1934–1937 period. Among probable causes for such an occurrence different authors enumerate, for example, an ultimate inevitability of the adoption of racist policies in atotalitarian nation-state, the influence of the Nazi Germany, transference to Jews of racism previously practiced in African colonies, the accusations leveled against them of harming Italy on the international scene and of exhibiting seditious and communist tendencies allegedly expressed, for example, in inciting the Spanish civil war. The author is inclined to support the theory of the “antisemitization” of colonial racism, although he also admits that the described turn of events would not have been possible without the concurrent emergence of at least afew other factors mentioned before. The author intends to devote aseparate article to the analysis of Jews’ situation during the time of Italian persecution 1938–1943 and to their subsequent extermination during the German occupation.ITALIAN FASCISM ON THE JEWISH QUESTION DURING THE 1919–1938 PERIODThe purpose of the paper is to present an issue, little-known in Poland, of an approach of Italian Fascism to the Jewish question until the time of the publication of the racist manifesto 1938. The article analyzes the evolution of the Fascist regime’s policies towards Jews during the 1919–1937 period, attempting to explain the origin of the decision to start their discrimination and persecution. In liberal Italy the phenomenon of anti-Semitism did not exist, except for some Catholic circles. Seizing political power in 1922, Mussolini’s regime did not reveal any intentions to change this state of affairs. From the very beginning, both Jews and anti-Semites for instance, Preziosi, Orano or Interlandi were represented in the Fascist ranks. Up until 1934 mutual relations remained very positive, which was symbolized by Fascist Italy’s ambitions to extend its patronage to the Zionist movement in order to facilitate its own colonial conquests. There is acontinuing scholarly debate over the reasons for the change of this policy during the 1934–1937 period. Among probable causes for such an occurrence different authors enumerate, for example, an ultimate inevitability of the adoption of racist policies in atotalitarian nation-state, the influence of the Nazi Germany, transference to Jews of racism previously practiced in African colonies, the accusations leveled against them of harming Italy on the international scene and of exhibiting seditious and communist tendencies allegedly expressed, for example, in inciting the Spanish civil war. The author is inclined to support the theory of the “antisemitization” of colonial racism, although he also admits that the described turn of events would not have been possible without the concurrent emergence of at least afew other factors mentioned before. The author intends to devote aseparate article to the analysis of Jews’ situation during the time of Italian persecution 1938–1943 and to their subsequent extermination during the German occupation

Italianness, Catholicism and Womanhood in the American Success Story of Mother Frances Cabrini, The Patron Saint of Immigrants

Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850–1917) was a Catholic nun of Italian origin, one of the first women missionaries who decided to leave for the United States in order to offer assistance to Italian Americans at the peak of their mass scale migration (1889–1917). Following an unprecedented success of her Missionary Institute of the Sacred Heart, she obtained American citizenship and was proclaimed the first U.S. Catholic saint in history, a global patron of immigrants. Until quite recently her work had been studied almost exclusively within a purely ecclesiastical context. However, nowadays her crucial intercultural experience is being revised by U.S. gender scholars who perceive her as a strong and independent woman of her time, founding and running a charity enterprise on three continents, little short of a Catholic feminist avant la lettre, but also an education innovator, pioneer of bilingual schooling as well as of an inclusive model of integrating immigrants into a modern society

Presidente, Duce, Segretario, Cavaliere: The evolution of leadeship patterns in contemporary Italy

The author discusses the changing nature of political leadership in united Italy, making reference to the four political systems: liberal Italy (1861-1922), Fascist Italy (1922-1945), The First Republic (1946-1994), The Second Republic (from 1994). He analyzes the practices of transformism under Depretis, Crispi and Giolitti, as well as Mussolini's image as the nation's hero. Furthermore the author describes the gradual decline of Christian Democrats' leaders from De Gasperi to Andreotti and the original approach adopted by Berlusconi. The cases are studied in order of their contribution to the present condition of Italian political leadership with respect to such criteria as the leaders' background, age, motivations and values, and their pragmaticism/idealism. Mosca's ruling class theory is applied throughout as to demonstrate specific Italian inspirations and meanings