POLISH-AMERICAN ALLIANCE DURING THE PRESIDENCY OF DONALD TRUMP IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF OFFENSIVE BANDWAGONING

The aim of the paper is to analyze and evaluate the Polish-American alliance during the presidency of Donald Trump in the perspective of the concept of offensive bandwagoning. In Poland, the United States is invariably perceived as the main external guarantor of security. For this reason, Poland's security policy is clearly pro-American. The Polish authorities from the Law and Justice party and the US administration of President Donald Trump were brought together by many factors, including ideological closeness, disputes with Western European political elites, relativizing the principles of the rule of law and democracy, and a similar view of the geopolitics of Central and Eastern Europe. I argue that in recent years the Polish-American alliance was deepened, but at the same time the asymmetry in relations between the states increased. Even more than usual, symptoms of clientelism were noticeable in Poland's security policy towards the US, which was a consequence of the implementation of the offensive bandwagoning concept. I also argue that the tightening of Polish-American alliance was detrimental to the cohesion and solidarity in NATO and the EU, which was against the basic interests of Poland's security. During the research, the method of text source analysis was used. The research could support decision-makers in developing the basic principles of Poland's security policy towards the United States.