Greek Foreign Policy toward the Black Sea Region: Combining Hard and Soft Power

Greece has enjoyed strong historical and cultural ties with countries and peoples of the Black Sea region for many centuries. During the 1990s, Greek governments largely ignored the region as they focused on the immediate Balkan neighborhood, which was in turmoil at the time. Since the early 2000s, however, Athens has developed a multidimensional policy toward the Black Sea region that deserves to be examined. This policy is based on a combination of hard and soft power resources, including economic might, military diplomacy, pipeline development, public diplomacy, multilateralism, and outreach based on political values, culture, and history. While the formation and implementation of the Greek foreign policy has remained in the hands of state officials and agencies, nonstate actors have had an important contributing role. The extent of Greek Black Sea policy’s success and limitations are also discussed.