Dimitrios' World

One of the major symptoms of Greek foreign policy is its chronic inability to be a protagonist beyond its immediate neighbourhoods, i.e. the Balkans, Turkey , and the Mediterranean – in spite of its extensive conscious involvement in the first two regions since the end of the Cold War. Successive Greek governments have used analogous rhetoric and set similar objectives – the need to ‘ Europeanise ’ Greece’s northern and eastern neighbours, the need to see them integrated into the European Union, the need for the wider neighbourhood to become ‘normal’, ‘boring’, ‘regular’. The diplomatic and political energy spent on assuring that the aforementioned comes to pass has been both inexhaustible and exhausting yet results (i.e. change in the desired direction) have been slow almost at snail’s pace. In part, this is due to the inability/unwillingness of the neighbours to completely transform themselves; in part it is due to the inability of the Greek foreign policy machinery to convince n...

The ongoing deterioration of relations between Greece and Turkey as evidenced by dogfights over the Aegean, overflights over inhabited and uninhabited Greek islands by the Turkish Air Force, illegal immigration and the postponement of the visit of the Greek Foreign Minister to Turkey has much to do with the different foreign policy perceptions in the two countries. The issue at hand is whether there can ever be a point of conjecture between the two approaches or the ongoing rapprochement between the two countries since 1999 is under threat. Although the Papoulias-Yilmaz Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of 1988 calls for a moratorium of activity over the Aegean during the summer months, the only time it was fully implemented by the Turkish side was in the summer of 2004 (when Athens hosted the Olympic Games). What makes the current spate of activity over the Aegean a concern for Athens is the increased number of mock dogfights by armed aircraft (thereby increasing the possibility o...

In 1990, John Mearsheimer wrote a much discussed article on how he viewed the Post-Cold War world at least on the European continent titled “Back to the Future”. According to Mearsheimer, there would be no new era of peace; instead multipolarity and increased competition between great powers would probably take hold, thereby increasing instability, inequality, unpredictability and uncertainty. In recent years, Mearsheimer’s thesis as well as those of other proponents of the realist school of thought (be it classical realism, offensive realism, structural realism, etc.) seems to be gaining strength albeit the popularity of post-modern schools of thought over the last two decades. Why all this theoretical babble, you ask? Mearsheimer clearly comes to mind when one attempts to analyse the competition between and among great powers in Europe (and neighbouring regions) today in particular with reference to the energy paradigm. On 13 July 2009, the Prime Ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Hu...

Παρακολούθησα με ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον και θαυμασμό το τελικό των Μεγάλων Ελλήνων στην τηλεόραση του Σκαϊ στις 18 Μαΐου 2009. Το μορφωτικό και διανοητικό επίπεδο των συμμετεχόντων υψηλότατο και εντυπωσιακό. Παρόλο που επρόκειτο για μία άσκηση επί χαρτού ο ενθουσιασμός και το πάθος από τους παραβρισκόμενους να στηρίξουν με εμμονή την επιλογή τους ήταν διάχυτος και βαθύτατα ειλικρινής. Και διερωτώμαι σε αυτό το σημείο πού είναι αυτό το πάθος στην αντιμετώπιση της μίζερης πραγματικότητα μας; Σκεφτόμουν παρακολουθώντας την εκπομπή ότι αξίζουμε μία καλύτερη μοίρα από την γκρίζα, άοσμη, μπανάλ εποχή μας. Σκεφτόμουν ότι οι δέκα μεγάλοι έλληνες του τελικού, όπως πολλοί άλλοι στην λίστα των υπολοίπων ενενήντα, αποδεικνύουν και αναδεικνύουν ταυτόχρονα τις δυνατότητες μας ως λαός (ατομικά και συλλογικά), να συσπειρωθούμε και να κάνουμε την υπέρβαση.  Το ερώτημα που τίθεται είναι πως η πνευματικότητα που εξέπεμπαν τόσο οι «αληθινοί» πρωταγωνιστές όσο και οι παρουσιαστές της εκπομπής μπορεί τελικά ν...

In a recent European Commission on the Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in 2008, it is stated that the ENP is “a growing partnership based on mutual interdependence.” This is evermore necessary since 2008 has been a year of crises that have led to gridlock both in the South and the East. The August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia , the Israeli intervention in Gaza in December 2008/January 2009 and the Russia-Ukraine gas crisis of January 2009 coupled with the growing negative impact on growth, trade, and investment of the global financial and economic crisis are all indicative on the frailty of the EU’s neighbourhoods.    On 7 May 2009, the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit took place amidst great expectations from its promoters in an effort to further solidify/strengthen the bonds between the European Union and its member states and their Eastern European Partners (herein...

Βιβλιοπαρουσίαση του βιβλίου: Δ. Τριανταφύλλου, Κ. Υφαντής, Ε. Χατζηβασιλειου (επιμ.) Διεθνείς Σχέσεις: Σύγχρονη θεματολογία και προσεγγίσεις – Αφιέρωμα στον Θεόδωρο Κουλουμπή (Αθήνα: Εκδόσεις Παπαζήση, 2008) Σήμερα, ημέρα χρέους και ευθύνης, χαράς και αναγνώρισης προς το πρόσωπο του καθηγητή Θεόδωρου Κουλουμπή, ως εκπρόσωπος των τριών επιμελητών του τιμητικού τόμου - Διεθνείς Σχέσεις: Σύγχρονη θεματολογία και προσεγγίσεις – θα ήθελα να αναφερθώ εν τάχει στους λόγους που μας παρακίνησαν να ξεκινήσουμε αυτό το φιλόδοξο εγχείρημα. Αυτό το βιβλίο, όπως θα έχετε ήδη διαπιστώσει, συνιστά ένα φόρο τιμής στον καθηγητή Θεόδωρο Κουλουμπή. Έστω και αν ένας τιμητικός τόμος είναι μία φτωχή απόπειρα να τιμηθεί ένας άνθρωπος σαν τον Θεόδωρο Κουλουμπή, το εν λόγω σύγγραμμα, πιστεύουμε, πως είναι τελικά ο πιο άμεσος και αποτελεσματικός τρόπος έκφρασης αγάπης και εκτίμησης προς το πρόσωπο ενός εκπαιδευτικού και διορατικού παρατηρητή των Διεθνών Σχέσεων που από τον επαναπατρισμό του στην Ελλάδα απ...

The international order has entered into a new era. Barack Obama has taken formally the reigns of power in Washington , the dismantling of a number of Bush-era policies has begun and the expectations of hope across the globe take hold. Amidst an ongoing, evergrowing international financial and economic crisis (where estimates of negative growth globally for the first time since 1950 abound), and the realities of the aftermath of the killing fields of Gaza , Obama’s agenda is filled to the brim and bound to overflow. The Black Sea region – a region encompassing the South Caucasus, Russia, Turkey , Ukraine and some of the European Union’s member states – will undoubtedly constitute a high priority region, not in the least due to the presence of Russia . The issues at hand are many, they are complex and they are challenging. They could augur instability as well as the potential for constructive, long-standing cooperation and stability. For one, an interesting challenge has to do with t...