The lines separating the worlds of business and politics in Greece have often been blurred. Businesses are not free from state intervention, on the one hand, but, on the other, business interests have often played a preponderant role in political decision making. Is it possible that these times of crisis are also an opportunity to […]
Politis asked EU law expert Anna Maria Konsta for her comments on a recently published review of the Greek justice system compared to other EU member states. Here are her remarks. “Even if these data date back to 2010, they are still indicative of the inefficiency of the Greek judicial system. In Greece, it takes […]
The Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service and Ianos Bookstore Cordially invite you to a presentation of Greek Urban Warriors: resistance and terrorism 1967-2014 by John Brady Kiesling Athens: Lycabettus Press, 2014 Monday, March 2, 2015, 7 PM Ianos Bookstore, Aristotelous 7, Thessaloniki Moderator: David Wisner The event will take place […]
By Helena Smith, The Guardian, Athens A few months before submarines became the talk of Athens, Yiannis Panagopoulos, who heads the Greek trade union confederation (GSEE), found himself sitting opposite Angela Merkel at a private meeting the German chancellor had called of European trade unionists in Berlin. When it came to his turn to address […]
By Maria Kallogeroudi Panhellenic exams tomorrow eh…. ahhh!! I remember… I remember myself… it was just a few years ago these days, I’d sit every day for hours and sip on coffee… BECAUSE I NEVER HAD TO TAKE THESE EXAMS YEAH YEAH OHH YEAH YEAH YEAH
Choose4Greece is an online application which calculates voters’ ideological congruence with political parties for the May 6 election in Greece. To which party would you be matched if you were a Greek voter? Greek citizens can find out which political parties they are closest to ideologically by using a new online tool designed by a group […]
By Krysta I am reading two new sites. First, Liberal.gr. My first impression is not positive. In one recent post the author wants to reply to his readers who he is (he used to write for www.capital.gr). But eventually after sharing two irrelevent stories he doesn’t say. Judging from his writing, I have difficulty taking […]
Last year I published a Kindle e-book on the Greek sovereign debt crisis. I wanted to understand, and explain to non-Greek readers, why Greeks behaved as they had during the crisis, and why they might have acted other than an American readership might have anticipated. I framed the story I told as a contemporary version […]
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This post comes courtesy of Politis reader Maria Tsouri. “Europeans have common ancestors, as shown in research on the DNA of Europeans from England to the Balkans published by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The investigation showed that the differences go back only tens of generations and genetic affinities are greater than scientists […]
“Neither right nor left, but above (and beyond).” — Tiziana Ciprini (M5S MP)
Ezra Klein spoke with Desmond Lachman of the American Enterprise Institute about the crisis of the eurozone, and recorded their conversation in his Washington Post Wonkblog. When asked about the political dimension of the crisis in southern Europe, Lachman replied: “My view is that what you’re seeing already is the politics coming unstuck in a […]
Politis recently published a post on efforts in Northern Greece to encourage active citizens to involve themselves in matters of “social economy.” Below we share excerpts on the subject from an article by Andrew Higgins in the New York Times. “In their search for solutions, Greeks are tinkering with a new kind of economy with […]
By David Wisner I file my tax returns in Greece and in the US. I read this comment by Lawrence A. Zelenak in the New York Times as a welcome counterpoint to all the negative press generated throughout the Western world about tax evasion. “In the next two weeks, Americans rushing to file their returns by […]
By David Wisner The title of an article in the English version of Der Spiegel got me thinking about what appears to be a systemic problem throughout Europe and the eurozone. Spiegel claims that Europe needs new blood, not so much in terms of higher birthrates and immigration, but in terms of ideas and thinkers. […]
Krysta Kalahani and Maria Patsarika, two of Politis’ regular contributors, enjoyed an exchange on Facebook this past weekend on the merits of “person-centered” municipal politics, inspired by a recent report, excerpted below, in the Thessaloniki daily Aggelioforos. We share an excerpt below. Krysta: I am coming to this article hot off a fcbk conversation with […]
This clip, courtesy of The Guardian, provides a nice overview of the state of thinking about open data, which advocates argue will revolutionize political practice in positive fashion in the months and years to come. See for yourself whether you agree.
We all know that Ilias Mamalakis cooks delightfully… Imagine doing this in a prison and publishing a book about it. Cooking as public service.
The remains of one of the earliest inhabitants of the city of Thessaloniki, those of a young woman, roughly twenty-five years of age, adorned with a gold crown, have been uncovered and published in a tomb dating from the third century BC, during excavations coinciding with digging for the Thessaloniki Metro, near the Stathmos Dimocratias. […]
By Maria Patsarika Every time I read about Noam Chomsky my impression of a sarcastic, dominant, relentless thinker and academic is reinforced. In an article in today’s Guardian I see more than this – apparently he still is sarcastic and uncompromising – which is encapsulated in his phrase “No individual changes anything alone.” He grasps […]