Greece and the New Balkans: Challenges and Opportunities (review)

Van Coufoudakis, Harry J. Psomiades, and Andre Gerolymatos, editors: Greece and the New Balkans: Challenges and Opportunities. New York: Pella Publishing Company, 1999. 478 pages. ISBN 0-918618-72-X. $25 (paperback). Reviewed by Constantine P. Danopoulos.

The end of the Cold War, coupled with the demise of communist regimes and the dismemberment of Yugoslavia, created a new environment on the Balkan peninsula. The difficulties associated with economic and political transition were compounded by the reappearance of old nationalist passions and a host of new, and not so new, security and other issues. With the area's strongest economy and a consolidated democratic polity, Greece found itself swimming in a changed sea brimming with unprecedented opportunities but fraught with security and other challenges.

While the violent breakup of Yugoslavia generated scholarly interest in the Balkans, Greece received little attention, despite its pivotal role in the region. This timely, compact, and comprehensive volume thus fills a very important gap. The compendium brings together a group of well-known scholars who analyze and offer views on almost every aspect of Greece's relationship with its neighbors, including security, foreign policy, economics, and even culture. Editing a book is a very difficult task requiring a great deal of patience, diplomacy, flexibility, and perseverance, and the editors deserve a lot of credit for managing to bring the project to fruition.

Greece and the New Balkans is divided into four parts. The first offers a historical overview of Greece's position in the Balkan peninsula. Though brief and eclectic, Constantine Svolopoulos's essay manages to trace and explain the ups and downs of Greece's relations with its neighbors. Thanos Veremis concentrates on post-Cold War developments and offers considerable insight into the most important issues affecting Athens's dealings with other Balkan states. Even though Veremis devotes a great deal of attention to the Macedonian issue, he does not neglect Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, or Greek-Albanian relations. The third essay in this section is more thematic and deals with the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the postcommunist Balkan environment. Victor Papacosma feels that NATO's changing role is likely to have a beneficial impact on Greek-Turkish relations.

The second part of the volume consists of five contributions and is devoted to economic and cultural issues. Using a wealth of data, Axel Sotiris Wallden documents the significant increases in economic and commercial activity between Greece and its neighbors and analyzes the positive impact of these changes in Greece's economy. Wallden sees some potential pitfalls, as well. In his view, there are some dangers lurking on the horizon. Finding "easier outlets in the Balkans and the NIS [newly independent states]," Greek entrepreneurs may become complacent and take a more slack attitude toward quality and marketing rigor. Such developments could mean a drift away from Europe and, in turn, prompt Greek entrepreneurs to seek "refuge in a marginalized Balkan area."

Dimitrios Triantafyllou dissects the various diplomatic initiatives undertaken by Athens to project Greece's economic interests in the peninsula. The essays by Yiannis Valinakis and P. C. Ioakimidis assess Greece's effort to deal with its neighbors and pursue its ties and obligations toward the European Union. Valinakis identifies and analyzes Athens's aims and contributions "to transform the [Black Sea] area into a region of stability and prosperity." Ioakimidis evaluates Athens's performance vis-à-vis its European partners. In his view, the record is mixed. Constrained by a host of cultural, religious, political, and administrative factors, Greece "appeared to act as a Balkan state during the 1989-1995 period." Under new and more modern leadership, in the last four years "Greece is making a very serious effort to act as a 'European state' in the Balkans." Beginning from ground zero, Paschalis Kitromilides attempts to give us an overview of Greece's cultural influence in the peninsula. His essay is a good start, but a lot more needs to be...