As these lines are being written the adventure which the country has experienced for the past four months has not yet come to an end. The threat of a default from a few days ago has begun to subside. In the past few hours there was a distinct fear that something could blow up the efforts to avert the risk. One phrase, one word, even a punctuation mark could be catastrophic for our country.
During the negotiations that begun after the government change in Greece, there have been many impasses in the talks.
The disagreements were open and harsh truths were often spoken. The usual entrapment attempts were made by both sides. Paris, Berlin, Washington and Athens intervened decisively in the critical hour when the talks seemed to reach a stalemate.
That is to say that there were outside interventions, which contributed decisively towards the final result.
Washington’s intervention was so open and intense that it would seem incomprehensible a few years ago. The “Americans! Murderers of peoples” became welcome mediators. In different times, in a similar situation, there would be an uproar among the people. The streets would be flooded with demonstrators and the usual “Yankees, go home” slogans.
We are used to blaming the Big Powers for our shortcomings. It is always the fault of the Americans and/or Russians.
It should be noted that on at least three occasions Moscow and Washington successfully played the part of the big power. In the 1960s it was Nikita Khrushchev who averted the imminent Turkish invasion of Cyprus with an ultimatum. In the 1990s Kostas Simitis had the political courage to publicly thank the Americans for their decisive intervention in the Imia crisis.
If the two Big Powers (who often act out of common interests) did not exist, we would have to invent them!
Stavros P. Psycharis
Originally published in the Saturday print edition
