Mark Brzezinsk, the U.S. Ambassador to Poland, recently visited the University of Miami to deliver a compelling lecture, titled “US-Poland 2024: A New Era of Security Collaboration.” His speech focused on the evolving nature of the U.S.-Poland partnership with NATO and Poland’s involvement in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War.
Brzezinski’s journey to becoming a leading voice in international affairs began with his impressive education, holding an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Oxford. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden from 2011 to 2015, and has been the U.S. Ambassador to Poland since 2022.
For Brzezinski, NATO is more than a military alliance — it embodies a framework of shared values and collective defense. During his lecture, he emphasized the importance NATO plays in international affairs, and how collective action is necessary to solving difficult problems.
“The glue, again, that holds all this together is our participation together in the most important defense alliance in history: NATO,” he said.
In the opening portion of his lecture, Brzezinski analyzed the varying levels of democratic engagement across nations. He expressed admiration for Poland’s recent electoral turnout and results from this past election. Voter turnout in Poland’s 2023 election was remarkable, reaching 74.4%. This high level of civic engagement is widely regarded as the driving factor behind the success of the Civic Coalition, a Polish political alliance that was previously not in power. With these key votes, the Civic Coalition received the parliamentary majority, allowing them to form the next government.
“Folks, democracy is under pressure all around the world, and there’s a lot of cynicism about the democratic experiment, [but] not in Poland,” he said. “Young Poles turned out in record numbers to vote in the parliamentary elections last year. What happened was an awesome example of civic engagement from voters across Poland’s political spectrum, where records [indicated] just how important democracy is to the Polish people.”
A significant portion of Ambassador Brzezinski’s talk centered on the war in Ukraine, commending Poland for its response to the refugee crisis.
“Poland stands as an example. No question about that,” Brzezinski said. “The response of Polish young people in all this has been unprecedented. They have stepped up in remarkable ways to help refugees, leading with empathy.”
In response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion, Poland opened its borders and brought in millions of refugees fleeing the war, with citizens offering housing, transportation, and financial assistance. In a short period of time, The Polish government implemented a national policy to ensure every arriving Ukrainian refugee would be placed in a Polish home or apartment, granting them the same legal rights as Polish citizens, except for the right to vote. He drew a thoughtful analogy to illustrate the magnitude of Poland’s response to the Ukraine crisis.
“What happened in Poland in those first few months after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is as if President Biden went on national television in the United States and said, ‘Fellow Americans, we have 6 million Hondurans, Guatemalans, El Salvadorans coming across the US-Mexico border, and it will be our policy to place every one of those arriving refugees into someone’s home.’ That happened, and it worked.”
His insight brought attention to the immense efforts from Polish citizens and their significant impact in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Brzezinski also addressed the risks Poland faced by supporting Ukraine, while noting that they have not been actualized in the last three years. This is surprising, considering the tensions with Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Poland’s continuous support for Ukraine could be perceived as a direct threat to Putin, who has shown a propensity to view such challenges as acts of treason.
Brzezinski argued that this risky success was and still is a testament to the stability of NATO and its defense.
“Before this, it was a bet. Now we know that it works,” he said.
Brzezinski closed his message by tying Poland’s efforts and NATO’s power together, by explaining that despite joining NATO more recently than other nations, Poland has stepped up and become “a leader in the conference.”
“Poles have a motto: ‘For your freedom and ours’… that sums up what it means to be united by the special bond across oceans in time,” he said.