The objective of the study is to carry out a meaningful comparison that demonstrates the similarities and differences of various conflict theatres where proxy forces were employed. The analyses of the discussed cases focused on different aspects of the conflict and nature of the proxy use. The analyses presented on the following pages were conducted on the basis of the literature on the subject, governmental research and reports, and supporting sources reporting recent developments that complemented academic sources. Various non-state actors such as ethnic militias, paramilitary units, and private military companies have become more and more visible on contemporary battlegrounds. Modern states employ those actors to further their objectives, as this limits their own political and financial costs. This increasingly visible phenomenon points to an emerging new model of warfare where state actors are relying ever more on proxies of various character and nature. It is highly likely that any future conflict will be characterised by a proxy-based model of warfare, which will consist of a limited footprint made by regular forces (or none at all) and, consequently, the extended use of proxies supported by special forces. Because such an approach is less costly, proxies will be more often employed by low-budget states, previously reluctant to carry out such costly military endeavours. Denying the actions and affiliations of these proxies will inevitably follow and, in turn, a lack of political accountability and responsibility for the conflict's outcome.

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The aim of the article is to deconstruct the Africanization of migration destined for Europe, to disprove several cognitive scripts on migration from Africa, most frequently quoted in the conservative media discourse. In the introduction, the migration of Africans destined for Europe in relations to the migration of Asians via Africa destined for Europe were characterized inter alia on the basis of the official documents, UNHCR and FRONTEX reports. Then, the dynamics of transcontinental and intra-Africa migrations – in synchronous and diachronic approach, with the reference to the research results of scholars specialized in the demography, social policy, history of migration – were discussed. Finally, the cultural meanings of migration among Africans is presented.

The aim of the article is to discuss the significance of historical anniversaries in the period of People’s Poland by comparing the celebrations of the Year of Copernicus in 1953 and 1973. First, the focus is placed on the institutional analysis of the celebrations and the characteristics of their main participants. Then, the discursive mechanisms of attributing significance to the figure of Nicolaus Copernicus are presented, with a particular emphasis on the value of progressiveness, revolution, anticlericalism. Finally, the author makes an attempt to evaluate the effects of commemoration policy in the Polish society.