The last thing that Europe needs is a failed Greek state on its southern flank. Yet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Greece’s official creditors persist in prescribing for Greece the same failed policies that have brought the country to its present dreadful pass. If Greece is not to become a failed state, one must hope that the IMF and EU soon change tack and help Greece to successfully exit the euro, which has visited so much misery on that country.
One does not need to be a political scientist to appreciate that Greece’s politics have become upended by the depth and length of its great economic depression, which by now is on a scale similar to that experienced in the United States in the 1930s. Whereas in 2009, before the start of Greece’s economic crisis, the country’s two main establishment political parties (New Democracy and PASOK) captured 70 percent of the vote, today those two parties command barely 25 percent. This has facilitated the rise of the internally divided and far-left Syriza Party, which now in government has the greatest of difficulties articulating a coherent economic policy. It has also made room for the rise of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party on the far-right of the political spectrum, which gives vent to a toxic brand of nationalism.
With Greek youth unemployment currently at over 50 percent, there is the clear and real danger that Greece could become a failed state if its economy does not turn around soon and if its politics take a further turn for the worse. There is also the real danger that such a failed state could turn for succor to Russia in the event that the West is seen to have failed the country. In recent months, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has already provocatively been cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin; despite U.S. objections, Greece has begun serious talks with Russia on the construction of a Russian gas pipeline through the country.
Full text of this article can be found at TheHill.com.
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