Asset Publisher

The Human Dimensions of the Greek Crisis: Negotiations Update

In a recent article published online earlier this week with The Huffington Post, Dr. Elizabeth Prodromou discussed the importance of tactical maneuvers and strategic choices in the negotiation game underway between the newly-elected government in Greece and the Eurozone Finance Ministers) and the international Troika (the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund).  She reminds the reader that, behind the debates about austerity versus stimulus, the arguments about financial profligacy versus punitive restructuring, and the power imbalances of Germany hegemony versus Southern European marginality, Greece is enduring acute human suffering and a humanitarian crisis the like of which haven’t been seen since the Great Depression.  The social consequences of “The Greek Crisis” include a national unemployment rate of 27% unemployment and a youth (15-24 year-olds) unemployment rate over 40%; a pervasive hunger problem that has particularly affected the elderly and children and that has taxed the capacity of soup kitchens and shelters run by the Church of Greece and municipalities and NGOs, which collectively feed tens of thousands each day; and double-digit increases in suicides (a 45% increase in the first four years of the crisis that is now entering its sixth year); and, overall, a growing number of Greek citizens living at risk of poverty and social exclusion.  The human dimensions of the financial crisis in Greece make for great urgency in arriving at a resolution of the impasse between the country’s new government and Eurozone Finance Ministers.  For more on the last two weeks of thrust and parry in the negotiations, see the full article, in Greece's Negotiation Game and the Eurozone Day of Reckoning, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kostas-a-lavdas/greece-negotiation-game_b_6655290.html

 

Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou is Visiting Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, and Affiliate Scholar at Harvard University's Center for European Studies, where she Co-Chairs the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe Study Group.