BALKAN STUDIES

Evripidis Tantalakis
(PhD student at the University of Leicester, currently working on his thesis entitled ‘Defending free peoples. Intelligence and the US advisory role in the Greek civil war, 1946-1949’. The focus of his research is the role of intelligence in the Greek Civil War and the extent to which the Greek COIN influenced the under-formation, post-war US COIN doctrine. He holds a BA degree in History form the University of Thessaly and an MA in International Relations and World Order form the University of Leicester. His teaching experience includes working as an Associate Tutor on the MA DL in Intelligence and Security at the University of Leicester)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 9 November 2019

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS)

The issue of insurgent intelligence is generally understudied. The case of the Greek insurgents and how they used intelligence to sustain their struggle during the civil war between 1946 and 1949 is no exception. However, the Greek insurgents managed to establish an impressive military and civil intelligence network which supported the fight of their army, the Democratic Army of Greece (DAG), and contributed to the resilience of the insurgency. ....Read more

Panagiotis Belias
(RIEAS Research Associate)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr)
Publication date: September 15, 2019

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

Introduction

The debate about the effect of the quality of institutions on the economy has been researched
for centuries amongst economists. Acemoglu and Robinson (2012) posit that the reason why nations have such enormous differences in wealth is because of their institutions. Read more

Panos Belias
(RIEAS Research Associate)

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 12 July 2019

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

Introduction

After the 2008 financial crisis, the world economy faced an enormous challenge, the severity of which had not been matched since the Great Depression. However, this time round, the economic policies that were followed around the world were aimed at stimulating the economy which was contrary to the austerity policies that were followed during the Great Depression (Roeger& Veld, 2012). A year later, things got worse for five European countries (Portugal, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Greece) as they were under the additional pressure of the nascent Sovereign debt crisis. Severe austerity measures had to be implemented in all five countries in order to put their economies on a trajectory that would converge to sustainability in the mid-term (Lane, 2012). After many years of economic hardships, the Greek people, who were at the epicenter of the sovereign debt crisis, demonstrated their desire for change by electing a new prime minister. ... Read more

Victor Davis Hanson
(Senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author, most recently, of The Case for Trump)

Copyright: https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/06/greece-finds-new-footing-as-a-player-on-the-world-stage/- June 6, 2019.

By balancing between rivals and finding new friendly interests, it magnifies its own importance. After Greece temporarily hosted a pair of U.S. military drones, Greek defense minister Panagiotis Kammenos said last fall that, “It’s very important for Greece that the United States deploy military assets in Greece on a more permanent base.” Indeed, Greece just took delivery of some 70 military helicopters that it had purchased from the U.S., and there have been discussions about basing American drones, air tankers and other military aircraft on Greek soil. COSCO, a state-owned Chinese shipping and logistics-services company, has invested more than 3.5 billion euros in renovating the historic Greek port of Piraeus, which is now the second-largest port in the Mediterranean. The Chinese brag that it will soon become the busiest. The massive renovation is part of China’s 35-year lease of two of the port’s container terminals and the Chinese purchase of a majority stake in Piraeus’s port authority. Read more

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Copyright Link: https://kassandros.gr/2019/06/01/the-center-does-not-hold/?utm_source=Kassandros&utm_campaign=55e393a39c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_06_01_09_23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cb1657fca1-55e393a39c-46602839

“…Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world…”
The Second Coming (poem) – W. B. Yeats 1919

Reading the news after the European elections one would believe that it is almost a victory for the progressive forces of Europe.
Nothing is further from the truth. Analysts sounded happy that only 112 populist and right-wing MEPs (Member of the European Parliament) entered the European Parliament which represents only 14%....Read more

Kiril Avramov and Ruslan Trad
(Kiril Avramov and Ruslan Trad are the team behind the Borderline Watch Project. Kiril is a post-doctoral fellow at the Intelligence Studies Project at the University of Texas at Austin. Ruslan is a freelance journalist and analyst with over ten years’ experience covering MENA, Balkans, and Turkey regional issues).

Copyright: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/05/17/self-appointed-defenders-of-fortress-europe-analyzing-bulgarian-border-patrols/ - The home of online investigations

The peak of the migration crisis in Europe might be over, but it has provided lasting excuses for paramilitary proto-militias to continue to mobilizesupport in Bulgaria. Via their “defense of the European fortress” from a new “Islamic conquest,” they provide a platform for both overt and covert international cooperation between leading figures of the European radicalfar-right and local volunteers, who seek to acquire specialized training from Russian ex-special ops instructors. Read more