History of the ISS

A group of idealists decided to establish in Cracow a Foundation “International Centre for Development of Democracy”, Poland had already gained some experience in establishing democracy and was laying the foundations for partnership relations with international society. The democratic institutions needed social support in order to fulfil the citizens’ needs more effectively. The new European and EuroAtlantic direction of Polish foreign policy also required to be strengthened in the consciousness of the Polish people.

Achieving these goals required an institution that would enhance dialogue between the representatives of various political circles and foster the exchange of experience between politicians from different countries. It also aimed at facilitating communication between experts and the political elite, so that the knowledge of the former was used more effectively in the process of taking political decisions by the latter. We wanted to create a forum for public debate, which would enable the clash of different views and help to work out solutions profitable for our country. Obviously, it had to be a non-governmental organization, distanced from the current political games and independent of political parties and public administration.

The Jagiellonian University and the Cracow’s University of Economics supported this idea and in July 1993 together with Bogdan Klich became the founders of the Foundation. Prominent political and academic figures assured it considerable protection. The Board of Founders included: Władysław Bartoszewski, Leszek Balcerowicz, Wiesław Chrzanowski, Bronisław Geremek, Marian Grzybowski, Aleksander Hall, Jerzy Jedlicki, Krzysztof Kozłowski, Józef Lassota, Jan Małecki, Jerzy Mikułowski – Pomorski, Jerzy Milewski, Jan Nowak – Jeziorański, Andrzej Olechowski, Andrzej Pelczar, Zbigniew Pucek, Paweł Sarnecki, Jacek Saryusz – Wolski, Zygmunt Skórzyński, Ksrzysztof Skubiszewski, Jerzy Turowicz, Edward Wende, Edmund Wnuk – Lipiński, Andrzej Zakrzewski and Janusz Ziółkowski. Bogdan Klich became the President of the Foundation.

However, the ideas had to be supported by financial means to enable the Foundation to carry out its activities. The first funds came from Bank Przemysłowo-Handlowy, which continues to support us up to the present, and from the Batory Foundation. The number of donors gradually increased as they became convinced of the effectiveness of our initiatives. Some of them, namely BIG Bank Gdański, German Marshall Fund Of the United States, F. Naumann Foundation, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, F. Ebert Foundation, have stayed with us to the present day. Others: Bank Handlowy, Bank PKO S.A., the Council of Europe, NATO, PHARE funds, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs or private business supported individual projects. The generated funds covered all the activities of the Foundation as well as its administration costs, as the Foundation has never had a regular source of income. It guaranteed independence of all state institutions, crucial for this sort of activity. At the same time, however, it required excellent management skills and transparent procedures.

Jacek Saryusz – Wolski, then Government Plenipotentiary for European Integration, defined the Foundation as an active and creative institution that kept up the pace and tackled crucial issues at the right time. He added that it was an excellent example of Polish way of thinking and debating: political and professional in various fields. Jan Nowak – Jeziorański added: “The Foundation is an impressive symptom of Polish dynamism and vigour, which was freed in 1989. It is the fruit of the regained freedom. I admire how much has been done here out of nothing.”

Within a short period of time the Foundation managed to mark its place on the map of Polish NGOs and worked out its own methods of implementing its statutory goals. These methods involve international conferences, expert seminars, research and education programmes, and publications.

International conferences

The series of international conferences was inaugurated in 1993 by a meeting devoted to the cooperation between Poland and Ukraine, entitled “New Challenges, New Responsibilities.” The words of Hennadiy Udovenko, then Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland, epitomized the significance of this session. Mr Udovenko declared that it was one of the most important events in the first phase of new Polish – Ukrainian relations. The next international conferences attempted to evaluate Polish relations with its neighbours and international organizations and to suggest solutions for the future. These conferences were devoted to the Visegrad Countries’ cooperation, Polish – Russian relations, Polish integration with the EU and the problems of international security. The Foundation managed to establish a forum for discussion where, apart from the leaders of Polish political circles, prominent European politicians met and expressed their ideas. They represented both, the western and the eastern part of the continent. During the conference “Towards New Partnership,” devoted to Polish – Russian relations, the ministers of Foreign Affairs of both countries, Andrzej Olechowski and Andrei Kozyrev, met and used this opportunity for political discussion.

Other international conferences were thematically determined and were devoted to the issues that concerned all post-communist countries. “Free Media for Europe”, “Constitution in the Service of Democracy”, “Ecology, Democracy, Free Market” were prepared with the aim to exchange experience, to describe the barriers of the transformation process and to seek solutions to overcome them. The conference “From Communism to Democracy” from June 1995 had a particular significance. It constituted a recapitulation of the main tendencies occurring during the process of structural reforms, laying down the foundations of free market and civil society in Central and Eastern European countries. It assembled dozens of political leaders, economists and social workers who, at that time, determined the direction their countries were heading for.

Research and education programmes

Within two years of the Foundation’s existence the international conferences became its ‘trademark’. However, in 1994 the Board of Founders decided to focus on activities that would be less impressive but more practical. Namely, it decided to complement the conference programme with the research and education programmes. To implement these goals three research centres were set up: the Centre for European Studies, the Centre for the Studies of Democracy and the Centre of Social and Economic Studies. They became engaged in researching the processes of the European and EuroAtlantic integration, democratic institutions and mechanisms, and transformations in the economic and financial spheres respectively. They organized expert seminars, prepared reports, collected documents, issued publications and provided courses and training sessions.

The centres organized courses in the European Integration, international security issues and the elements of state and society. The courses lasted two terms, and the participants appreciated both the knowledge handed over by scholars from the Jagiellonian University and the Cracow University of Economics and the certificate of the Jagiellonian Univesity postgraduate studies. Many graduates, especially teachers and the Polish Army officers found these courses very useful in their professional career.

The expert seminars and research carried out by the Centres led to a regular issue of publications. Three publishing series were set up, which are continued till now. The “Zeszyty” (Papers) series presents materials from the expert seminars and conferences, while the “Studia i Analizy (Studies and Analyses) series contains reports from the research projects. The “Książki” (Books) programme issues reports and revised materials from the international conferences. For a few years the Foundation was issuing its own magazine “Ad Meritum.” It appeared twice a year and reflected the Foundation’s areas of interests, combining scientific analysis with ambitious political commentaries.

In 1995 a European Library was set up at the Centre of European Studies. It collected books, publications, documents and scientific papers in the fields of international relations, law, economy, sociology, social psychology, philosophy of politics and European studies. The Depository Library of the Council of Europe became a part of this library. It contained all the publications and magazines issued by the Council of Europe – conventions, agreements, and publications devoted to the Council’s activities. It ceased when the Council gave up this way of informing about its activities and replaced it with electronic means.

The Institute for Strategic Studies

Due to the gradual reduction of financial means for the NGO’s activities in the second half of the nineties the authorities of the Foundation were forced to make changes in its structure. All the Centres were combined in 1997 into the Institute for Strategic Studies. It facilitated the management of the programmes and brought necessary savings. The Foundation’s authorities decided that the most important issues of Polish foreign policy, such as integration with the European and EuroAtlantic structures and new relations with eastern neighbours, would become the priorities in the Institute’s activity. It resulted in the reduction of programmes carried out by the Institute, at first to five and, in the end to three. Moreover an International Honorary Advisory Board was set up. It included: Zbigniew Brzeziński, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, Hans – Dietrich Genscher, Henry A. Kissinger and Andrzej Olechowski. Finally, in 2001 the Foundation changed its name and the consolidation process was finished.