Posttraumatic Sovereignty

With Russia‘s attack on Ukraine, the old Central European fear of becoming a victim of the great powers is back. Unlike in Germany, from whose soil two world wars started, there was no hesitation in Warsaw, Tallinn and elsewhere. Only those who were themselves attacked and, like Poland, once even completely wiped off the map, understand that military self-defense is justified. In their lucid essay, Karolina Wigura, historian of ideas, and Jarosław Kuisz, political scientist, describe how today‘s war reactivates historical traumas; why Warsaw assumes a leading role in European defense policy even though the ruling PiS party invokes the EU as a threat to its own sovereignty.