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5632. The Greek Crisis and Its Repercussions on the Balkan Neighbourhood: The End of the Myth
- Author:
- Marilena Koppa
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
- Abstract:
- This article explores the role of Greece in the Balkans since the end of Communism and the impact of the sovereign debt crisis that followed. Since the beginning of the 1990s, while Greece failed to accomplish its vocation at the political level, at the level of the economy the country acted as an important regional actor. The article examines the dynamics of the Greek crisis on the Balkan economies and analyses the major challenges for Greece in this new reality. At the same times, it tries to identify the triple crisis faced currently by Greece: at the level of credibility and status, at the level of mediation between the region and the EU and, finally, at the level of the gradual peripherisation of the country.
- Topic:
- International Political Economy and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Greece
5633. The Migration/Refugee Crisis and the (Un/Re) Making of Europe: Risks and Challenges for Greece
- Author:
- Dimitris Keridis
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
- Abstract:
- The migration and refugee crisis that erupted in 2015 landed recession riven Greece with a series of humanitarian, political, social, and financial as well as foreign policy and security challenges. Following a near disastrous open- borders policy steeped in leftist ideological parochialism, Athens aligned itself closely with Germany in support of the EU-Turkey deal that drastically reduced the human flows from Turkey into the EU and invited NATO naval forces to help monitor the implementation of the agreement. This paper is structured around two parts: the first part describes the immigration and refugee crisis itself, from a global, European and national-Greek perspective; the second part analyzes the risks to and policy responses of Greece and how they relate to the country’s overall geostrategic position, at a time when Europe is being redefined as it struggles to respond to a multitude of challenges
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Greece
5634. Crisis and the Greek Asylum System in the Framework of the EU-Turkey Agreement: Legal and Political Aspects
- Author:
- Christos Baxevanis
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
- Abstract:
- Since the signing of the EU-Turkey Statement, there has been a significant reduction in the number of people unlawfully crossing European borders or losing their lives in the Aegean. Turkey plays a crucial and decisive role in addressing the refugee crisis in the Middle East and the Mediterranean region. At the same time, Greece is invited to carry out an unprecedented administrative, legislative and operational project that has not been undertaken so far. Furthermore, Greek authorities have to deal with a series of urgent needs (accommodation, nutrition, asylum procedures, health) or social integration processes (education, training, access to labour). This article focuses on the legal and political aspects in terms of Greek Asylum System as well as special attention is given to the EU- Turkey statement and how its implementation impacts on Greek-Turkish-EU relations. The author notes that this discussion cannot be taken place without taking into account the European institutional and political framework as well as the greatest economic-fiscal crisis faced both by EU and Greece.
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Greece
5635. Greece’s Strategy and Perceptions towards Turkey: The End of Consensus and the Return of History?
- Author:
- Kostas Ifantis
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
- Abstract:
- The paper focuses on the impact of the crisis on the Greek public debate on, perception of, and strategy towards Turkey. The analysis is placed in the context of a strategic consensus that was ruptured during the crisis and the lack of bipartisanship on the country’s security preferences. Although Athens and Ankara have enjoyed an unusually long period of calm waters in the Aegean from 1999 to 2016, the last two years have produced the familiar aggressive rhetoric and mutual mistrust. With the bilateral issues intact, the traditional inertia on both sides can easily turn into heightened tensions with the risk of miscalculation given the proximity of military hardware being hardly insignificant. The paper also presents some of the findings of a research conducted by the two guest editors of this special issue on the Greek elites’ perceptions of Turkey in the midst of the crisis.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Greece
5636. Greek Foreign Policy in Defence of the National Interest: Teetering between Exceptionalism and Integration
- Author:
- Dimitrios Triantaphyllou
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
- Abstract:
- This paper aims to explain how crisis-ridden Greece defines and defends its national interest. The constellation of the twin economic and migration crises coupled with the increasingly transactional nature of the global order have forced Greece’s hand in sticking to its guns with regard to its membership in both NATO and the European Union. While deterrence vis-à-vis Turkey remains a high priority, Greece has had to labour to regain its status and credibility within both aforementioned organizations by evolving away from its traditional policy of balancing between its membership obligations in NATO and the EU and its more nuanced approach to relations with Russia in contrast to many other countries. This has been done with the consensual adoption across the mainstream political spectrum of a policy of strategic realism which sees a distancing from the Euro-Atlantic context as an anathema, albeit the persistence of the reflex of exceptionalism and ethno-centrism. Its flank state status and the danger of further marginalization at a time of a changing Turkey have forced its hand while also presenting opportunities for the adoption of a renewed positive agenda with its neighbours.
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Greece
5637. Introduction: A Note on Populism in Crisis-ridden Greece
- Author:
- Kostas Ifantis and Dimitrios Triantaphyllou
- Publication Date:
- 10-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
- Abstract:
- This is a collection of essays on Greece during a crisis that has already lasted more than eight years. A group of scholars discusses several aspects of the grand failure that is Greece since 2009. It is by no means a comprehensive treatise of what went so wrong and why a country that is still among the most developed and wealthy in the world cannot bounce back, reform itself, and deliver the public goods to its citizens. Although it is not explicit, a careful reading of the papers reveals an underlying theme. A populist wave finally swept Greece in early 2015 and nearly destroyed the old political guard. The post- Junta political, social and economic consensus that served as a bulwark for rapid democratization and modernization came under enormous pressure from extreme right and extreme left bullies. Civil War discourse and oratory was used to target political opponents and pseudo-revolutionary voluntarism was offered as the anti-European and anti-elite solution to the country’s misery. The justified rage became violent outbursts with the agents of populism barely hiding their satisfaction
- Topic:
- International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Greece
5638. Setting the Stage for Progress Towards Nuclear Disarmament
- Author:
- Tytti Erasto, Sibylle Bauer, Shannon N. Kile, and Peter Topychkanov
- Publication Date:
- 04-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- Recognizing that the current international context is hardly conducive to arms control and disarmament, SIPRI working paper ‘Setting the stage for progress towards nuclear disarmament’ identifies 10 practical steps to revitalize the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the principal normative and legal foundation of the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. At the same time, it recognizes the NPT’s inherent compatibility with other disarmament initiatives, most notably the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. In addition to restoring a sense of common purpose and addressing ‘old’ nuclear weapon-related risks, the paper highlights ‘new’ risks arising from developments in conventional capabilities and emerging technologies. The overarching objective is to set the stage for future concrete steps and initiatives to reduce the role of nuclear weapons and to eventually eliminate them.
- Topic:
- Peace Studies and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
5639. The Role of Russia in the Middle East and North Africa Region. Strategy or Opportunism
- Author:
- EuroMesco
- Publication Date:
- 11-2018
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- IEMed/EuroMeSCo
- Abstract:
- On 12 October ISPI in cooperation with the IEMed organised a workshop “New Euro-Mediterranean Dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean”. The event was organised in the framework of the EuroMeSCo ENI Project, co-funded by the European Commission. This dialogue workshop aimed at discussing the initial research results of the Joint Policy Study and engaging the participants in analyzing and sharing their perspectives on whether the Russian moment in the MENA region corresponds to opportunism, a new strategy or it falls in between these options. Additionally, this workshop aimed at shedding light on the role Russia is currently playing, how this can influence the balance of power as well as how regional players look at Russia. The present report is a summary of main points raised in workshop discussions
- Topic:
- International Relations and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Middle East, and North Africa
5640. The new dynamics of global energy and climate
- Author:
- Rachel Kyte
- Publication Date:
- 11-2018
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- On the heels of a major new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the rising risks of climate impacts, on November 19th Brookings hosted Rachel Kyte, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, in conversation with David G. Victor.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, International Political Economy, and Climate Finance
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus