Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski / Courtesy of Embassy of Poland in Seoul

While browsing social media, I recently came across a map showing all the countries with GDP per capita higher than Poland's in 1990 and 2018. The difference was striking. Thirty-five years ago, there were quite a few such countries not only in Europe but also in South America, Asia and Africa. By 2018, however, no South American or African states were highlighted on the map.

By 2025, the group has shrunk even further. According to IMF data, Poland's GDP per capita in 1990 was approximately $6,690 in purchasing power parity-adjusted terms. By 2024, it had grown almost eightfold to around $51,630 — all in just three decades, or one generation.

How did this happen? Apart from the hard work of our citizens, two major factors — or, more precisely, two institutions — contributed to the economic success: NATO and the European Union.

Sources of success

After the fall of communism in Poland in 1989 and the return of messy democratic politics, one thing remained constant despite the day-to-day political squabbles, no matter who was in power: Poland's determination to join the two aforementioned organizations. Why?

We are a great nation but a medium-sized country. We cherish our long history, yet our population is smaller than that of Beijing and Shanghai combined. Poland needs allies to boost its potential on the international stage.

Many of the so-called "middle powers" in Asia, Africa and South America, looking for room to grow, often need what Poland desperately needed 35 years ago and still benefits from: good governance, foreign investments with no strings attached and above all, political stability, the rule of law and a predictable international environment, with neighbors eager not to wage wars but to work together for mutual benefit.

Today, the international order is being challenged on multiple fronts, sometimes for good reasons. Decades-old institutions — including the United Nations and its Security Council — are unrepresentative of the global community and incapable of addressing the challenges we face. What they need, however, is thorough reform, not complete rejection.

Imperialists illusions

To those desperate for change, force might seem appealing. However, abandoning forums for international dialogue and resorting to violence will not get us far.

Take Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. It is, in fact, a modern-day colonial war against the Ukrainian people who — just like us Poles 30 years ago — wanted a better life and realized they could never achieve this goal by returning to subjugation under Russia. Kremlin aggression is a desperate struggle by a failing empire to restore its sphere of influence.

A Russian victory would not create a more just global order, nor would it benefit countries dissatisfied with the current state of affairs.

War is hardly ever a shortcut to prosperity.

That is why, when Poland assumed the presidency of the European Council, it made its priorities clear: security in all its dimensions, from military to economic to digital. A safe, prosperous and open Europe can benefit not only Europeans but also the wider global community, just as it has benefited Poland over the last three decades.

It may sound dull, but it worked. Just look at the numbers.

Radosław Sikorski is Poland's foreign minister.