Ian Lesser, Athens, 2003
The volume is a translation of the English Greece’s New Geopolitics, a study undertaken by the RAND Corporation with the support of the Kokkalis Foundation. The report is based on the proceedings of several roundtables in Greece and in the US and on a major international conference held in Athens from November 30th to December 2nd of 2000. The research identifies the major elements of change in Greece’s geopolitical environment and evaluates their effects on Greece’s foreign policy. Developments in the region, such as territorial conflicts and issues of state sovereignty, combined with the end of southern European and Mediterranean marginalization and membership in the EU, make up Greece’s new international environment. In this environment, marked by economic, informational, technological and cultural globalization, Greece faces new foreign policy demands of a transregional dimension. Underscoring advantageous opportunity structures for the advancement of Greece’s strategic interests and for economic cooperation between Greece and countries in the Balkans, Eurasia, and the Middle East, the study argues that, rather than being a victim of globalization, Greece is emerging as an active and a protagonist foreign policy actor.
