By David Wisner I have asked myself this question over and over. So have many of my acquaintances, from what I can gather. Indeed, I began this line of inquiry barely a year into Greece’s sovereign debt crisis. American that I am, I asked the question from the point of view of the tax payer […]
“Science has become a branch of the Democrat Party.” — Rush Limbaugh
By Maria Patsarika Browsing a Sunday paper and a series of depressing articles on politics, one article made me think of the word “crisis” on a broader eco-systemic level, and also ponder the distressing consequences of our collective ignorance. Permissions for gold mining in Chalkidiki and protesters’ prosecutions are scandalous according to George Triantafyllidis, lecturer […]
In mid October Thessaloniki will be hosting the WOMEX World Music Expo. This is a great privilege for Thessaloniki as it will bring a lot of artists and great talents from around the world to Thessaloniki and it will also set up more production and music sales networks for the city. For those of you […]
“Honesty is a virtue.” Not only in the realm of the proverbial, but also according to classical ethical theory. How often do we ascribe this virtue to contemporary politicians? Do we celebrate our national heroes, our great statesmen and women, for their dedication to the truth? I saw the film “Lincoln” some months ago and […]
By Ambassador John Koenig Note from the Editors. John Koenig is a retired career Foreign Service Officer and former US Ambassador to Cyprus. He is a member of the Honorary Board of Advisors to the Dukakis Center. The following is the text of prepared remarks delivered at Western Washington University. Intro Good afternoon and thank […]
The makeshift migrant camp in Eidomeni has been in the news regularly since the end of 2015. Reports today claimed the camp was finally being evacuated by Greek authorities. This would not be the first time. Last November a group of fifteen Dukakis Center interns, from Greece, the US, and several Balkan countries, organized a […]
Is Greece an emerging market? Strange as it may seem, an American firm named Russell Investments believes so. Is this good news? In an analysis by Mat Lystra and Ryan Naranjo entitled Greece: Reemerged, explains in detail the reclassification. But lest one think that this is good news for the Greek economy, the inverse is […]
“The Governance Lab (The GovLab) aims to improve people’s lives by changing how we govern. We are seeking new ways to solve public problems using advances in technology and science. Innovations in technology and science are empowering individuals to engage with one another – and with traditional institutions of governance – to tackle problems more […]
Thousands of runners who never finished the Boston Marathon last month, along with bombing victims and spectators, gathered in the rain on May 25 to run the OneRun, a one-mile road race that spanned the last mile of the Boston Marathon. The race started at Kenmore and ending at the finish line in Copley Square. […]
By Niko Adamopoulos Editor’s note. Niko Adamopoulos is a summer intern at the Dukakis Center from Colgate University, where he is a junior in international studies. While in Thessaloniki he will volunteer in local humanitarian efforts with refugees and migrants from Syria and other countries. Here he compiles an annotated list of blogs on citizenship […]
By Krysta Kalachani Let me bring to your attention a very interesting discussion (in Greek) about the new media and new types of journalism in the context ERT, as ERT was / is supposed to be. Worth watching, it tackles specifically the situation in the Greek media.
By David Wisner Some years ago, when I first settled permanently in Thessaloniki, I met another ex-patriot who had been here for decades already. How long? I asked her. “Long enough to think the Greek way of doing things is the normal way,” she replied. Won’t happen to me, I thought, naively. And continued to […]
By David Wisner Michael Gerson had some interesting thoughts about an offhand remark made recently by retired US General Stanley McChrystal on service to the nation. McChrystal had expressed concern that only 1 percent of Americans serve in the armed forces, resulting in an unequal distribution of burdens and an unequal development of citizens. “Once […]
By David Wisner The international news is awash with stories of Greece’s return to the bond market. It is fashionable again for Greece to be in the headlines. The “success story” line is ubiquitous. As Hugo Dixon writes in Reuters, the Greek rebound is “astonishing.” Why? First, it is important to acknowledge that the discerning […]
By Krysta Kalachani Everyone is smiles in Athens. The crisis is almost over. Hiring is up! Indeed, according to an article in a major Greek news outlet two weeks ago there have been considerably more net hires than fires since 2014 began. Now about those hirings… 53% of the total hirings (according to the Ministry […]
Την Τετάρτη, 20 Νοε 2013, στις 18.00, στην αίθουσα πολλαπλών χρήσεων του Δημαρχείου Θεσσαλονίκης το Πανελλήνιο Παρατηρητήριο Οργανώσεων της Κοινωνίας των Πολιτών και ο Ευρωπαϊκός Όμιλος Εδαφικής Συνεργασίας (ΕΟΕΣ) «ΕΥΞΕΙΝΗ ΠΟΛΗ – Δίκτυο Ευρωπαϊκών Πόλεων για τη Βιώσιμη Ανάπτυξη» με την υποστήριξη του Δήμου Θεσσαλονίκης, οργανώνει την, ανοικτή σε όλους, «Πανελλήνια Πλατφόρμα Ενεργών Πολιτών». Η […]
By Katharine Welch Note of the Editors. Katharine “Katie” Welch is a freshman at Northeastern University majoring in Political Science, studying abroad at ACT and interning at the Dukakis Center. She is from San Francisco, California. On Wednesday October 5, the Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service hosted a round table discussion on “Voting […]
By Maria Alafouzos There is a cafe off Syntagma Square and it’s filled with people drinking coffee and speaking to each other in indoor tones. The smokers sit outside under outdoor heaters. Daylight is beginning to fade. That same day, in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, the CEO of Express Service was arrested […]
“It is often said that our political system is incompetent, but it is doing a perfect job in reproducing the existing model. “ — Paschos Mandravelis, Kathimerini English Edition