You urge the Poles not to get too wound up about the European presidency (“The View from Vistula,” July 9, 2011). “Better modest success than glorious failure,” you advise. Indeed, the rotating presidency is a modest job that takes but six months. Herman van Rompuy presides over prime ministers, Cathy Ashton over foreign ministers, and Jean-Claude Juncker over finance ministers, leaving little for the Polish president or prime minister to preside over. A “martyred nation,” Poland has celebrated the limelight nonetheless. And how. So, what can the Poles do in this conundrum? As Poland is martyred because it has forever bounced between Germany and Russia, its leaders can do a great deal to bring the erstwhile oppressors together. Germany is the flagship of Europe in many things, not just the economy, and Russia is ominously lurking with gas and oil aplenty, as well as much more besides. The awkward pair needs diplomacy. But the Poles can do a great deal to bring them together. Martyred or not, they know Germany and Russia from first-hand experience. Centuries of it, too. And the presidency of Europe gives the Poles all the clout they need for the job.