“Polish historical necessity to fight an external enemy shifted into an internal struggle ” – said prof . Zimbardo during the debate on social divisions in Poland.  On the 21^st of April the Casimir Pulaski Foundation and the prof. Zimbardo Center for Conflict Resolution at  the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszow, organized a debate concerning the social divisions in contemporary Poland and its consequences for the security of the country.

The aim of the debate was to find methods and solutions in order to avert the current and ongoing conflict in Poland. The lack of agreement inside the country has many consequences. Apart from the growing internal instability, we should take into consideration the impact of external factors. There may be forces capable to influence the ongoing disputes and maintain or even use them for their own purposes. However, the Polish problem lies in something else. Why are Poles stuck in a conflict, which reaches a stalemate?

According to Philip Zimbardo, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, the root cause of today’s problems is our mentality. “The Polish history is based on a culture of heroes. Fighting with an external enemy rooted in Polish mentality now shifted into an internal fight, against each other” noticed Professor Zimbardo. An external observer would claim that there is a lot of aggression between Internet users expressing their views. In the opinion of dr. Katarzyna Stasiuk, anonymity is the reason for that. “Internet increases tolerance for aggression” she said.

Politicians views concerning the endless conflict are varied. “Poles do not really want to fight each other. This war between them is intentionally led, as a method for politics” claimed a politician Paweł Zalewski. Professor Andrzej Zybertowicz in response also noted “politicians are aware of effects of their decisions in the long-run”. Political culture in Poland is definitely too low and should be increased in order to mitigate the conflict. Also in the opinion of politician Paweł Kowal “Poland lacks political culture”.

Professor Stanisław Koziej assessed the state of national security and brought forward the negative consequences, which the ongoing social conflict can bring. “The only safety-button which protects us from exceeding the critical point may be the law and legal culture” he outlined. “In order to resolve the problem, the involvement of the so called third sector, which includes media, non-governmental organizations, independent authorities as well as external circles, is a necessity” he added.

Ongoing tensions in Poland should be relieved as soon as possible. Poland will definitely not profit form endless Polish vs. Polish quarrels.