At the end of January there was a joint scientific seminar organised by Centre for International Studies and Development, Institute of Political Science and International Relations and Polish Association for International Studies entitled ‘Poland in international institutions between 1918–2018’. The meeting was attended by prof. dr hab. Andrzej Mania (JU), prof. dr hab. Edward Haliżak (WU), prof. dr hab. Artur Gruszczak (JU), dr hab. Małgorzata Zachara, prof. JU and dr hab. Joanna Starzyk-Sulejewska (WU).

The reference point for the seminar’s participants was book published in 2019 entitled ‘Poland in international institutions between 1918–2018’ edited by prof. Edward Haliżak, prof. Teresa Łoś-Nowak, prof. Anna Potyrała and prof. Joanna Starzyk-Sulejewska.

The debate was opened and moderated by prof. Andrzej Mania. At the beginning, the meeting participants pointed out that international institutions in the science of international relations should be understood broadly. Therefore, this is not only about intergovernmental international organizations, but also various institutions of international law or international regimes.

Then the panelists pointed to the place of such understood and contemporary studies on international institutions in the science of international relations. It was noted that the aforementioned collective work adopted the perspective of institutionalism, although such international phenomena can also be analyzed using other theories, including realism.

In the above context, the issue of relations between states and international institutions was raised. Although it is the states that establish international institutions to pursue national interests, at the same time the institutions become important places for making decisions and participation in them ensures the right of codecision. This allows middle-order countries to get more on the international stage than would result only from the magnitude of their power in the international system.

From this perspective, Poland's place in international institutions has been discussed over the past hundred years, as it has been recognized that this allows us to show the broader context in which Poland operates in the international arena.

The seminar participants stated that in the 21st century we are observing a debate about the decline of the liberal international order and the loss of faith in related international institutions, which coincides with discussions in Poland about its place in these mechanisms. This raises the question of whether the international order, which will not be based on international institutions and e.g. self-help mechanisms, will be able to provide Poland with a sufficient level of security and favorable conditions for economic development?