Why Greece Matters to the U.S.: A Geopolitical Journey through Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean
H&G7-10-Tue1
Athanasios Grammenos
This course will take place virtually on Zoom. Participation requires a device (ideally a computer or tablet, rather than a cell phone) with a camera and microphone in good working order and basic familiarity with using Zoom and accessing email.
March 11 - May 20 (No Class April 15)
What do most foreigners know about Greece, beyond a blend of its glorious ancient past, captivating landscapes, and rich cultural heritage? If the answer is “little,” then the country’s 20th century deserves to be studied as a political thriller. Despite robust alignment with the West, Greek domestic history was anything but serene and peaceful; it suffered schisms, conspiracies, dictatorships, and foreign interference. Nonetheless, in 1974 Greece became a liberal democracy and soon after it joined the European Communities (today’s EU). This course explores why Greece is and will remain important for the US, in geopolitical terms. We will see how Greece reached its current territorial boundaries and how its political and ethnic identities were shaped. Then we will examine its struggles and challenges, including the strong and decisive American presence during the years of the Greek military regime. In addition, we will look at a close-up account of the latest phase in Greece’s history, known as “Metapolitefsi.” The last part of the course will be dedicated to contemporary Greece and its EU membership. Originally, conversion to the euro performed well in Greece, promising political and economic development. However, the sovereign debt crisis and the collateral damage of the 2008 global fiscal crisis dealt a strong blow to Greece’s finances. The entire EU scapegoated the country and its people, with Berlin and Brussels calling out to teach those “prodigal” Greeks a lesson. In this course, we will seek to understand the making of contemporary Greece.
More lecture than facilitated discussion.
The Greek Connection: The Life of Elias Demetracopoulos and the Untold Story of Watergate by Barron, James H.
Complementary material (notes) will be provided on the class’s website by the SGL
2 hours per week, roughly 20-30 pages
Athanasios Grammenos (PhD) is an instructor and researcher of International Relations and History. He is a fellow researcher at Aristotle University, a SGL at BOLLI, and has taught at Piraeus University. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in high impact factor journals and the Press in English, Greek and German. He is a past Library Fellow of Sacramento State University and a recipient of a NATO scholarship from the Greek Foreign Ministry. He is the author of the book Orthodox American. He has edited the book The Revolution of 1821 and Modern Greece and published the poetry collection Margaron.