British politicians face the challenge of determining the vision for the future of the United Kingdom and the reasons why, in the next century, it will be worth staying together - says Dr Małgorzata Bonikowska, President of the Centre for International Relations, in a special analysis on "the Scottish case". If the Scots remain in the UK, this should not lead London to triumphalism, because the situation will remain tense. The EU should also draw some conclusions. If it won't give all its members a sense of self-fulfillment in the wider community and in the name of great ideas, the same tensions await it, as those that the British union is faced with today. The Scottish referendum demonstrates an important truth about the situation of Great Britain: roughly half of the Scottish society further questions the point of being in a union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

The African continent is a place of great opportunities, but also challenges. To succeed and increase its presence in sub-Saharan Africa, Poland must have a clear strategy and act coherently, activating and connecting different environments - CIR's President, dr Małgorzata Bonikowska said during the panel "Africa in the European Union policy. Opportunities and challenges for Poland", organized within the first nationwide European congress. The discussion was also attended by: dr Kamil Zajączkowski - University of Warsaw – panel moderator, dr Andrzej Łupina - Polish Ambassador, prof. dr hab. Arkadiusz Żukowski – University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, dr hab. Wiesław Lizak - Uniwersytet Warszawski, mgr Anna Masłoń-Oracz – President of Maroney Group, mgr Paulina Pietrowiak – University of Warsaw, and mgr Omenaa Mensah – Warsaw School of Economics.

The conflict in Ukraine has forced Poland to an in-depth analysis of priorities in its policy towards the East - comments dr Małgorzata Bonikowska, president of CIR and Michał Szczygielski, analyst at CIR. Initiated by Warsaw in 2009, the Eastern Partnership is currently experiencing a crisis as a result of Moscow's decisive actions, where it seeks to maintain its influence in the area. Poland's answer should be a correction to the Partnership's assumptions and an East-West mediation proposal, in the long term leading to improve the state of our relations with Russia. The priorities of the Polish Eastern policy in the context of the developments in Ukraine seem to be clear - among them are the desire to increase the presence of NATO in Central Europe and the Baltic countries.