ELIAMEP

You can read here the article on the Cyprus Question, which was written by Professor Emeritus and Member of the Board of Trustees of ELIAMEP Theodore Couloumbis. This commentary was published on 22 January 2017  in the Sunday edition of Kathimerini. It is available in Greek.

Carnegie Europe launched a debate in the framework of international negotiations on the Cyprus Question. Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos was among the interviewees by Judy Dempsey. His comment was the following:

‘The reluctance of Greek Cypriots to take the risk of cohabitation with Turkish Cypriots and Turkey’s refusal to relax its strategic grip over Cyprus can explain the failure to resolve the division of the island after more than forty years of negotiations. Now, the stars have aligned for a solution as far as the leaders of the two communities are concerned, and significant progress has been achieved during intercommunal negotiations.

Although important disagreements remain on issues like governance and territory, the real stumbling block is security, and this is one of the issues on which decisions are made exclusively in Ankara, not in Cyprus. Turkey appears unwilling to make any meaningful concessions on the full (albeit gradual) withdrawal of all foreign troops from the island or on the roles of the guarantor powers—Britain, Greece, and Turkey. It sounds almost incredible that a non-EU country would have the right of unilateral military intervention in an EU member state. The security concerns of Turkish Cypriots will need to be addressed through a system of implementation guarantees and a multinational police force.

Should Ankara show the necessary goodwill, there is a fair chance that Greek Cypriots will take the big step of endorsing reunification. Concerns about the functionality and viability of the proposed unified state continue to linger, however.’

By Thanos Dokos

Source: Carnegie Europe

On Friday 13 January 2017, the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) organized “New Pact for Europe” Transnational meeting between the Greek and Estonian National Reflection Groups. The event took place in Aegli Zappeiou in the context of the New Pact for Europe Programme.

The book launch  event for the title In Defense of Europe. Can the European project be saved? -authored by Professor Loukas Tsoukalis and published in Greek by Papadopoulos Publishing House -  will take place on Thursday 26 January 2017, at 19:00, at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Kallirrois Avenue & Amvr. Frantzi Street). Working language will be Greek.

Participants:

- Kyriakos Mitsotakis, President of New Democracy 

- Yannis Stournaras, Governor of the Bank of Greece

- George Kaminis, Athens Mayor

- Petros Markaris, Writer

- Loukas Tsoukalis, Professor at the University of Athens, President of ELIAMEP 

Journalist Maria Choukli will moderate the event.

To reserve your seat please contact rsvp@epbooks.gr.

For more information: 210 2816134 (int. 817)

You can read here the article on the Cyprus Question, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 12 January 2017 [in Greek].

It is with sorrow that we have been informed about the death of journalist Efstathios Efstathiadis. Known as ‘Rector of diplomatic coverage’ he acted for years as member of ELIAMEP Board of Directors and member of the Board of Trustees. His friendship and support was an honour for our Foundation while his contribution was valuable.

Associate Professor  at the University of Athens and  Senior Research Fellow at ELIAMEP Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos wrote an article on the crisis in modern democracy in the Sunday edition of To Vima newspaper. The article was published on 8 January 2017 and is available here (in Greek).

Briefing Note 50/2016 of ELIAMEP South-East Europe Programme focuses on the domestic political situation in Kosovo. It investigates the phenomenon of extreme polarisation between the government and the opposition in Pristina, which hampers the process of state building as well as the adoption of reforms and agreements considered necessary by the international community.

You can read here the article on terrorism and Europe, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 29 December 2016 [in Greek].

Enter Crisis is a comic illustrating the international, European and Greek financial and economic crisis – its millestones (chapter 1), its causes (chapter 2) and its management policies (chapter 3).

The narrative is developed through the online dialogue and more specifically, through the confrontation in an electronic economic forum between a German banker, a Spanish unemployed, a French Member of the European Parliament, a Greek student, an American reporter and an English professor of financial economics. Their arguments are documented with facts and quantitative data, which is processed by a smart and in many ways innovative application. This application converts the online dialogue of the six characters into the story of a company, certainly heterogeneous in its membership. And the protagonists of this story become de facto, the authors of an illustrated and widely circulated textbook.

Enter Crisis has been published in Greek by Papazissis Publishing House.

The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the International Affairs Institute (IAI) in Rome, organised an International Conference entitled “Which “Crisis”? Understanding and Addressing Migration”. The event was organized within the framework of the New-Med, a research project developed by IAI, in cooperation with the OSCE, the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States, Compagnia di San Paolo, and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

 

The conference was held in English, on Friday, 16 December 2016 at 09:45-16:00, at the Representation of the European Commission in Athens (2 Vas. Sofias Ave., ground floor).

You may find the agenda of the conference here.

You can read here the article on Greek foreign policy, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 15 December 2016 [in Greek].

Sorry, this entry is only available in Ελληνικά.

On December 5, 2016, the Turkish Earth observation satellite Göktürk-1 has been launched in low earth orbit of 700 km. This optical satellite, which costed 260 million usd has a very high resolution (70 cm in panchromatic and 2.5 meters in color) and has a life expectancy of seven years. Major European aerospace industries (Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space) were enabled in its construction with the help of Turkish institutions such as the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), Aselsan and TUBITAK. The Göktürk-1, followed Göktürk-2, launched in 2012, and constructed mainly in Turkey. This short analysis focuses on the implications this new satellite could have for Greece. Obviously the existence of two satellites increases the effectiveness of intelligence gathering from space as it will provide imagery with higher spatial and temporal resolution. Also a mobile ground receiving station will support theater operations. But the combination of large amounts of data with fewer image analysts, is an internationally well-known problem which does not always ensure operational advantage. Furthermore, the ‘cleansing’ inside the Turkish Air Force, which operates the Göktürk space program, after the attempted coup of July 15, 2016, have been significant. It is reasonable to expect that these might affect the operation of the program. This fact coupled with the damage suffered at the ground station of Turksat telecommunications satellite in Ankara during the coup attempt, indicates that there will be delays in the expected operation of the Turkish space program and largely negate the comparative advantage that Turkey could have in other circumstances.

Briefing Note 50/2016: The launch of Göktürk-1 and its implications for Greece (in Greek)

Author: Alexandros Kolovos

Southeast European and Black Sea Studies’ most recent issue is now available online. It is a special issue entitled ‘Exit from Democracy: Illiberal Governance in Turkey and Beyond,’ edited by Kerem Öktem & Karabekir Akkoyunlu, both of the Centre of Southeast European Studies, Graz.
The issue is very timely in light of the coup attempt in Turkey and its aftermath, as well as the global climate in general. It includes articles examining authoritarianism, populism, democratic breakdown and state capacity in both a Turkish and wider context.You can find here more information.

You can read here the article on the rise of populists, which was written by Professor George Pagoulatos. The commentary was published on 11 December 2016  in the Sunday edition of Kathimerini and is available in Greek.

The new book of Loukas Tsoukalis: In Defense of Europe. Can the European project be saved? has been published in Greek by Papadopoulos Publishing House. Europe has not been so weak and divided for a long time. Buffeted by a succession of crises, it has shown a strong collective survival instinct but a poor capacity to deliver. Loukas Tsoukalis is critical of the way Europe has handled its multiple crises in recent years. He addresses the key issues and difficult choices facing Europe today.

In particular:

- Can Europe hold together? Under what terms? And for what purpose?

- A look at the key choices facing Europe today, by a leading political economist and former special adviser to the President of the European Commission

- Explains how the international financial crisis has become an existential crisis of European integration

- Asks whether Europe can ovecome the basic contradiction of a currency without a state

- Looks at how the European Union can accommodate greater internal diversity – and thereby hope to avoid a Brexit or a Grexit

- Examines whether there is an irreconcilable contradiction between Europe’s yearning for soft power and the hard realities of the world outside

Book Reviews

‘An inexorable analysis. An eye opener, a heart cry from a true European’ - Herman van Rompuy, former President of the European Council

‘A deeply insightful book that illuminates how only a combination of skill and passion can save Europe’ – Enrico Letta, former Prime Minister of Italy

‘The European project has traditionally been driven by the region’s political, business and technocratic elites, with ordinary people indifferent and often hostile to it, even as benficiaries. This clear-sighted, non-idelogical book shows how this has to change for the project to survive. Tsoukalis argues Europe needs a wide range of reforms that deepens integration in some areas, while allowing for greater differentiation and democratic decision-making in others. He eschews simple solutions and magic pills. It is the book’s great virtue that is clarifies both the scale of the problem and some of the ways forward’ – Dani Rodrik,  Harvard Kennedy School

‘This is an important and enlightening book in which one of the most knowledgeable scholars of European integration takes a hard look at what has has gone wrong over the last quarter century. Though deeply committed to the success of the European project, the author’s account of present European crises is characterized not only by an unflinching realism but also by the masterly integration of economic and political analyses – and by the perceptive reconstruction of the conflicting interests and (mis-) perceptions that explain German, British and Greek contributions to present policy failures. Remarkably, nevertheless, the book ends neither in a counsel of despair nor in idealistic precepts but in a series of pragmatic proposals whose usefulness is not obviously in conflict with political feasibility’ – Fritz W. Scharpf, Max Planck Institute

‘As ever thoughtful and thought-provoking, Loukas Tsoukalis prompts us to re-examine the fundamentals of contemporary European integration. His deep analysis is timely, nuanced and challenging’ - Dame Helen Wallace FBA, British Academy

Sorry, this entry is only available in Ελληνικά.

President of ELIAMEP, Professor Loukas Tsoukalis wrote an article in the Sunday edition of Kathimerini on the future of Europe. This article was published on 11 December 2016 and is available here (in Greek).

ELIAMEP is looking for an intern to assist in the project “The future of EU-Turkey Relations: Mapping Dynamics and Testing Scenarios” (FEATURE).  More information is available on the Greek version of the website.