Stan Draenos is well known to anyone who has an interest in post – World War II Greek politics. His work in Athens included service as historian at the Andreas Papandreou Foundation. His earlier book, Andreas Papandreou: The Making of a Greek Democrat and Political Maverick (I. B. Tauris, 2012) provided a balanced analysis of Andreas’s leap into Greek politics after two decades in American academia and association with the American liberal political establishment. That volume ended with the 1967 coup in Athens and Andreas’s arrest by the Greek Junta. The discussion in the book under review ends late in 1969, although the epilogue looks ahead well into 1974. The book is short but insightful. It is written in Greek, which limits its readership, and is part of a series published in Athens on the fiftieth anniversary of the 1967 coup. It is likely to become the preamble and foundation of Draenos’s planned second volume on Andreas. While most books on Andreas offer either passionate accounts or condemnations of the man and his career, Draenos’s work is distinguished by balanced perspectives derived from archival sources and wideranging research. Various documents and letters are also included in this volume. The book focuses on the political shifts and compromises Andreas made during his traumatic experience in jail and his eventual exile. Developments in Greece are examined in the context of the troubled US politics of the period. The Vietnam War and events surrounding the election of Richard Nixon in 1968 are examined for their effects on US relations with Western Europe and the intensifying EastWest confrontation. The volume examines various unknown and inad-
Abstract:The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most important maritime highways in international trade and a marine traffic hub at the western end of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This essay examines the role of Mediterranean countries in the construction and realization of the Twenty-First Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, one of the BRI's two main components. China's maritime activity in the Mediterranean Sea and its shores consists mainly of constructing and operating ports or railways. The investments in sea-lanes and railways complement each other and jointly open new trade links between China and the Eurasia-Africa zone. However, the implementation of a Maritime Silk Road via the Mediterranean Sea cannot succeed unless there is a way to bridge the gap between economic interests and the capacity to protect those interests.
Book Review| March 01 2018 Which Left: Detecting the Progressive Identity in Europe in the Midst of a Crisis (Ποια Αριστερα; Aνιχνευοντας την Προοδευτικη Tαυτοτητα στην Ευρωπη της Κρισης) by George Sotirelis Sotirelis, George: Which Left: Detecting the Progressive Identity in Europe in the Midst of a Crisis (Ποια Αριστερα; Aνιχνευοντας την Προοδευτικη Tαυτοτητα στην Ευρωπη της Κρισης). Athens: Polis, 2017. 166 pages. ISBN 978-960435-544-0. €14.00 (paperback). Akis Kalaitzidis Akis Kalaitzidis Akis Kalaitzidis is professor of political science at Central Missouri University, Warrensburg. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Mediterranean Quarterly (2018) 29 (1): 124–126. https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397383 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Akis Kalaitzidis; Which Left: Detecting the Progressive Identity in Europe in the Midst of a Crisis (Ποια Αριστερα; Aνιχνευοντας την Προοδευτικη Tαυτοτητα στην Ευρωπη της Κρισης) by George Sotirelis. Mediterranean Quarterly 1 March 2018; 29 (1): 124–126. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397383 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsMediterranean Quarterly Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2018 by Mediterranean Affairs, Inc.2018 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.
The 2008 economic nearmeltdown confirmed what has been in the offing since the advent of neoliberalism and globalization more than three decades ago: universal, adult, franchisepropelled, entitlementbased middleclass prosperity — one of the most visible achievements of the Western economic way of life — was no longer sustainable. For instance, the percentage of Americans who considered themselves middle class declined from 61 percent in 2008 to 51 percent in 2016. Similar trends appeared in Europe as well. The weakened position of the middle class was one of the main issues addressed in the 2016 US presidential election. Fearful of being accused of invoking class warfare, the various candidates avoided the term middle class and instead employed more innocuous expressions, such as “working families,” “hardworking men and women,” or “people working full time.” Donald Trump concentrated his appeal to the middleclass sectors that had suffered the most damage — including industrial workers, fixedincome earners, and those living in rural areas — and promised to restore their sagging fortunes. Not only was he able to accomplish a hostile takeover of the Republican Party, but, to the dismay of most prognosticators, he went on to win the presidency. Sotiris Rizas’s The End of Middle Class Politics? is a serious and muchneeded attempt to shed light on the role and nature of the middle class, identify the underpinnings of its relative economic affluence, and understand the recent and ongoing erosion that has created an environment that no longer “connotes aspirations, but uncertainty and distress since it is identified with a way of life which is not sustainable.” The book seeks to pinpoint the causes and key characteristics as well as the evolution of the middle classes in the Western economic way of life, which began in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, by concentrating on five important Western countries: France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The author considers these countries as the most important in the Western world, for they “set the stage for the most widespread affluence in modern history during the postwar period.” Differences notwithstanding, the key ingredients permeating this success story included universal and expanding adult suffrage, private enterprise, entitlements, and a level of income that “afforded housing and consumer durables, education, health, and a comfortable life in general.”
Book Review| March 01 2018 Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe’s Deep Establishment by Yanis Varoufakis Varoufakis, Yanis: Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe’s Deep Establishment. London: Bodley Head, 2017. 550 pages. ISBN 978-0-374-10100-8. $49.49 (hardcover). Constantine P. Danopoulos Constantine P. Danopoulos Constantine P. Danopoulos is professor of political science and President’s Scholar, San Jose State University, California. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Mediterranean Quarterly (2018) 29 (1): 120–123. https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397372 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Constantine P. Danopoulos; Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe’s Deep Establishment by Yanis Varoufakis. Mediterranean Quarterly 1 March 2018; 29 (1): 120–123. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-4397372 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsMediterranean Quarterly Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2018 by Mediterranean Affairs, Inc.2018 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.
The Gezi uprising can be considered a crucial turning in Turkish politics. As a response to countrywide democratic protests, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government revived the security state, escalated authoritarian tendencies, and started to organize a nationalist, Islamist, and conservative backlash. This essay argues that the Gezi Park protests revealed both the fragility of the AKP's hegemony and the limits of the dominant political group habitus, which were promoted by the party to consolidate political polarization in favor of the party's hegemony. Moreover, it is argued that the Gezi uprising transformed the culture of political protests in the country and paved the way for the emergence of affirmative resistance, radical imagination, and a new politics of desire and dignity against authoritarian and neoliberal policies.
Book Review| June 01 2018 Andreas in Jail and in Exile: Junta, Resistance, Americans, Karamanlis [in Greek] (Ο Ανδρέας στη Φυλακή και την Εξορία: Χούντα, Αντίσταση, Αμερικανοί, Καραμανλής) by Stan Draenos Draenos, Stan: Andreas in Jail and in Exile: Junta, Resistance, Americans, Karamanlis [in Greek] (Ο Ανδρέας στη Φυλακή και την Εξορία: Χούντα, Αντίσταση, Αμερικανοί, Καραμανλής). Athens: Efmerida ton Syntakton, 2017. 158 pages. ISBN 978-618- 83271-5-3 (paper). Van Coufoudakis Van Coufoudakis Van Coufoudakis is dean emeritus and professor emeritus at Indiana University-Purdue University. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Mediterranean Quarterly (2018) 29 (2): 81–84. https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-6898123 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Van Coufoudakis; Andreas in Jail and in Exile: Junta, Resistance, Americans, Karamanlis [in Greek] (Ο Ανδρέας στη Φυλακή και την Εξορία: Χούντα, Αντίσταση, Αμερικανοί, Καραμανλής) by Stan Draenos. Mediterranean Quarterly 1 June 2018; 29 (2): 81–84. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-6898123 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsMediterranean Quarterly Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2018 by Mediterranean Affairs, Inc.2018 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.
Book Review| December 01 2018 Orthodox Christian Perspectives on War ed. by Perry T. Hamalis and Valerie A. Karras Hamalis, Perry T.; Karras, Valerie A., Eds.: Orthodox Christian Perspectives on War. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2018. 389 pages. ISBN: 978-0-268-19277-7. $55 (hardcover). Victor Roudometof Victor Roudometof Victor Roudometof is associate professor of sociology, University of Cyprus. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Mediterranean Quarterly (2018) 29 (4): 102–104. https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-7345499 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Victor Roudometof; Orthodox Christian Perspectives on War ed. by Perry T. Hamalis and Valerie A. Karras. Mediterranean Quarterly 1 December 2018; 29 (4): 102–104. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-7345499 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsMediterranean Quarterly Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2018 by Mediterranean Affairs, Inc.2018 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: Reviews You do not currently have access to this content.
Abstract:When the United States and its NATO allies helped insurgents overthrow Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the belief was that the intervention prevented a humanitarian catastrophe and that a post-Gaddafi Libya would be stable and democratic. Instead, Libya became a cauldron of chaos and human suffering. Rival, mostly Islamist militias vie for power in a multisided civil war. There is a vast flow of desperate refugees trying to get across the Mediterranean to Europe, many of whom perish in the attempt. Libya is a case study in how good intentions are not enough in foreign policy.
Abstract:The issue of the constitutional name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM, involves a question of identity that dates back at least to the early twentieth century. Athens and Skopje are seeking a mutually acceptable resolution not only for their own benefit but for the benefit of regional peace and stability. The relationship between the parties has passed through distinctive phases. The current phase seems to encompass a great amount of optimism and political realism from both sides. It remains to be seen whether this optimism will lead to a political result.
Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) governments have managed to remove Kemalism only to replace it with an Islamist nation-building and social-engineering project that is as, if not more, authoritarian, conservative, and regressive than the Kemalist one. The Turkish education system has been transformed into a political tool to manipulate youth and mold them into cadres of a peculiar Islamist ideology supported by the Recep Tayyip Erdogan regime. This essay discusses four sets of educational tools that have been redesigned to enable Erdogan and his entourage to shape the worldview of younger generations of Turkish citizens.
Abstract:Since 2013, Greece, along with the rest of Europe, has experienced a rapid increase in refugee flows. The sudden influx of refugees has had a negative impact on the perception of Greek society regarding their potential threat. According to a 2016 survey, 55 percent of Greeks believe that the influx of refugee flows can increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks. Furthermore, 65 percent of Greeks have a negative review of Muslims. Because Greece has not been the victim of Muslim terrorist attacks and historically has had strong ties with the Arab world, these perceptions represent a puzzle. Adopting a qualitative methodological approach, this essay analyzes the causes of negative Greek attitudes toward refugees. It finds that the negative perceptions among Greek society stem from two factors: the perceived negative economic impact and the perceived cultural impact of refugees.
Abstract:This essay attempts to elucidate the transformation of civil-military relations in Turkey since the failed coup of 15 July 2016. After presenting an overview of these relations prior to the coup, the essay focuses on emerging aspects of them in the postcoup environment and attempts to analyze a pattern. It argues that while a harsh domination has been established over the military by civilian politicians through massive efforts in structural, educational, and legislative domains, those efforts are far from being overarching. Whether it has produced a democratic form of civil-military relations and an irreversible transformation in the mindsets of officer corps is dubious.
Book Review| December 01 2018 Modern Greece and the Diaspora Greeks in the United States by George Kaloudis Kaloudis, George: Modern Greece and the Diaspora Greeks in the United States. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018. 233 pages. ISBN 978-1-4985-6227-0. $100 (hardcover). Constantine P. Danopoulos Constantine P. Danopoulos Constantine P. Danopoulos is professor emeritus and President’s Scholar at San Jose State University, California. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Mediterranean Quarterly (2018) 29 (4): 95–98. https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-7345475 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Constantine P. Danopoulos; Modern Greece and the Diaspora Greeks in the United States by George Kaloudis. Mediterranean Quarterly 1 December 2018; 29 (4): 95–98. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-7345475 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsMediterranean Quarterly Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2018 by Mediterranean Affairs, Inc.2018 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: Reviews You do not currently have access to this content.
Over the past few decades there have been numerous opportunities for political scientists, political historians, and other scholars to memorialize in conferences, edited volumes, monographs, and doctoral theses both the demise of democracy in Greece in April 1967 and its restoration in July 1974. One such occasion came, for instance, last year, 2017, which marked fifty years since the military coup of 21 April. The increased interest in the period when the Colonels’ oppressive regime ruled Greece has been enhanced by the frequent release of new documentation and has produced an abundance of works, ranging in perspective from international relations, regional affairs, the Cyprus issue, human rights violations, ideological controversies, resistance movements, and youth movements to, more recently, memory studies. American Foreign Policy towards the Colonels’ Greece: Uncertain Allies and the 1967 Coup d’État by Neovi Karakatsanis and Jonathan Swarts is one of the latest additions to the growing literature. It benefits from the recent declassification of US State Department documents and seeks to investigate the role the United States played in setting up, and then helping, the regime survive in power for seven full years. Greek public opinion has generally blamed the US government for being behind the Colonels’ seizing power in 1967 and has assumed that the Greek Colonels had been nothing but Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) puppets. Tellingly, the book cover displays a photograph of the US embassy in Athens, a Walter Gropius building that celebrates modern architectural style. The building still remains a target of Greek antiAmerican sentiments — sentiments that feed on these deeply held assumptions — and marks the destination of antiAmerican political demonstrations in Athens. Interestingly, however, the authors challenge longheld perceptions of GreekUS tensions. They choose to deal with the origins and longevity of the military regime as an open question, examine available evidence for convincing proof of US support for the Colonels, and discover the ambiguities of US policies toward the dictators and the power strategies devised by the protagonists of the Greek military coup. Without precluding the possibility that, in the future, new declassified archival material such as CIA papers or other intelligence sources might provide documentation that substantiates the view that the Greek dictatorship was indeed of US making, the authors argue that currently available material suggests a more nuanced reality,
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already established his place in history books, but the nature and the meaning of his legacy will be determined by researchers, intellectuals, scholars, and activists—people who observe, record, and study his leadership. In this special issue of the Mediterranean Quarterly — “Critical Crossroads: Erdogan and the Transformation of Turkey” — we attempt to join the arduous task of documenting and analyzing the decline of a twentyfirst-century, democratically elected government into a domestically punitive and regionally aggressive authoritarian regime.1 The Justice and Development Party (AKP), an Islamist conservative party with staunch neoliberal aspirations, was created in 2001, came to power in 2002, and has continuously held a majority of the seats in the Turkish parliament ever since. Similar to the cases of many modern authoritarianisms
