Since our country is moving into a “post-American” era, it is important that we understand the economic, political, and social aspects of other influential countries around the world. One of these countries that may be of importance is Greece, which is located in Southern Europe. Greece is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe, consisting of approximately eighty percent mountains and hills. It shares borders with four other countries (Albania, The Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey), and is also bordered by three seas (Aegean, Mediterranean, and the Ionian). Greece has a total coastline length of 13,676 kilometers, which makes it the eleventh longest in the world. This coastline consists of the mainland as well as approximately 1,400 islands, 227 of which are inhibited. Greece has a fairly large population of almost eleven million people. Majority of the country, roughly 99 percent, speak Greek, while the remaining population speaks English and French. Because of Greece’s location, it faces some significant political and economic disputes between bordering countries. Since there are a vast amount of islands in the seas bordering Greece, it is always facing boundary disputes with neighboring countries. One of the best examples is the constant, ongoing discussion between Greece and Turkey attempting to resolve their complex maritime, air, territorial, and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea. Another problem that Greece faces because of its location is the mass migration of Albanians into Greece seeking employment. This migration started in the late 1980’s and is still an issue in Greece today. The number of Albanian immigrants in Greece is estimated to be between 60-65% of the country’s total immigrant population. Greece’s location also makes it a gateway to Europe for drug traffickers that are smuggling cannabis and heroin from the Middle East and Southwest Asia to the West. This smuggling results in money laundering and organized crime related to drug trafficking. These issues can cause many social, economic, and political problems in the country. When it comes to looking at historical events, Greece’s history played an important role in shaping the entire world. Greece is considered to be the birthplace of Western Civilization and is home to the first advanced civilizations in Europe. The three main civilizations that were first formed were the Cycladic, Minoan, and the Mycenaean civilizations. All three civilizations all possessed their own form of writing which was an early form of Greek. These civilizations, however, collapsed around 1200BC, and ushered in an era known as the Greek Dark Ages. These dark ages would last until approximately 776BC, which was the year of the first Olympic Games. The ending of these dark ages created a large manifestation of various kingdoms and city states around Greece. It was around this time that Greece underwent an unexpected cultural explosion through architecture, math, science, and philosophy. Approximately two-hundred years later, in the ancient capital city of Athens, Cleisthenes established the world’s first democratic system of government that countries around the world still use today. Another part of Greek history that is pivotal in shaping the country into what it is today is the Greek War of Independence. This war took place between 1821 and 1832 when Greece was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Since the beginning of Ottoman Rule in 1453, there were numerous revolts by the Greeks in attempts to gain their independence, none of which were successful. Around 1814, a secret group called the Filiki Eteria was formed with the hopes of emancipating Greece from Ottoman Rule. Greece would soon see a series of revolts, starting with the revolts in the Danubian Principalities in March of 1821. Following many years of continuous revolts around Greece, and many years of long negotiations, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France decided to intercede in the conflict and each country deployed a navy to Greece. With the help of these three Great Powers, the Greek were able to destroy the Ottoman Empire and capture the majority of Greece. After many more years of negotiation, Greece was finally declared an independent nation in May of 1832. This independence has helped Greece become the country that it is today. Because of many recent events in Greece’s economy, the country is experiencing a very difficult political situation. Due to the extreme and recent downfall of the Greek economy, voters recently upended the country’s political system in a parliamentary election that saw the overwhelming defeat of the dominant parties who were blamed for the collapse of the Greek economy. The type of government that Greece has is considered a parliamentary republic, which is a type of republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch receives its validity from the legislative branch. The executive branch consists of a chief of state (president), a head of government (prime minister), and a cabinet that is appointed by the president. The judicial system operates independently from these two branches. Greece is currently experiencing an extremely unstable government because of the considerable amount of debt they are facing due to their recent economic plummet. The political parties that usually dominate the Greek government are now looking to be the less favored. It was observed in a recent parliamentary election that voters are now favoring parties such as the Syriza and Gloden Dawn, in comparison to long-time favorite parties such as the New Democracy and Socialist parties. The main reasoning behind this change in government is the recent bailout the country received because of its recent economic collapse. These new political parties are not in favor of the bailout, and it is said that these votes are viewed as a protest vote. This parliamentary election was the first time that Greece’s foreign loan agreement had been put to a democratic test and it was clear that voters did not support it at all. These elections were seen as paramount, deciding both the country’s future in Europe and the possibility of an economic recovery. A later election was soon held after no party was able to form a stable government and a member of the New Democracy party was elected Prime Minister. While Greece’s current political situation seems near destruction, the other aspects of how it operates have its similarities, as well as small differences, with the US and other countries around the world. The treatment of its citizens is very similar to that of the United States. There are not any laws that prohibit women or any minorities from living equal lives. While Greece does have small conflicts involving religion and education, there is nothing that greatly affects the economic or political structure of the country. One political conflict that somewhat affects the country’s economy is the view on education. Under the Greek constitution, education is the responsibility of the state. While there are a few private schools, majority of Greeks attend public primary and secondary schools. The Ministry of Education is in control of every aspect of public education in the country, including the hiring of teachers and professors and producing all of the required textbooks. One recent issue that Greece is having that deals with education is the institutionalization of private universities. According to Greece’s constitution, the only universities that can operate on the land are ones that are run by the state. However, many foreign private universities have recently created branches in Greece, creating a contradiction in the Greek constitution. This makes it very hard for Greeks to continue their education into the next level beyond their secondary education. This, along with the fact that every year thousands of Greeks are denied from state run universities, creates many “educational immigrants” from Greece that travel to other countries to study at universities. This creates an enduring problem for Greece as they continue to lose capital, as well as human resources, because thousands of people seeking employment in the country that they traveled too to complete their studies. Greece is one of the top countries for number of students studying abroad, with a number around 60,000. The idea to amend the constitution to address this issue has been brought up several times and still remains a topic of political discussion. One political topic that differs slightly from the United States is the idea of religion. In Greece, the Greek Orthodox Church is under the protection of the State. According to the Greek constitution, Orthodox Christianity is the prevailing religion, although freedom of religious beliefs is also guaranteed. After a recent poll, it is shown that Greece is one of the most religious countries in the European Union. In the 2001 constitutional amendment, the idea of complete separation of church and state was brought up, but face heavy opposition from majority of the population as well as the clergy. Because of this, the two main political parties decided not to continue on with this controversial topic. Due to the recent collapse of the Greek economy, other countries are starting to play a role in its economic and political systems. Because the economy was so destroyed, Greece had to rely on bailout packages from other euro using countries such as France and Germany. The debt collected from the bailouts of just these two countries was around 240 billion euros. This, combined with all of the other bailouts, ripped apart Greece’s safety nets and sent it into an almost Great Depression state. This caused a very large uproar in the stability of the nation’s government, and caused many voters to protest the current political parties that were in charge. The majority of the voters were not in favor of the current bail-out plan and they decided to vote for new parties that were once the minority in hopes of protesting the plan. The best way to describe the current economic situation in Greece is simple; bad and getting worse. The recent economic downfall has put Greece under a substantial amount of debt. It is continuing to receive stimulus and bail-out packages on top of ones it has already received. No political party can seem to devise a plan that will successfully lift Greece out of this pile of debt anytime soon. To try and recover from what seems like a doomed economy, the government adopted a medium-term austerity program that includes cutting government spending, decreasing tax evasion, overhauling the health-care and pension systems, and reforming the labor and product markets. In an attempt to make debt repayments to creditors, a leading credit agency assigned Greek debt its lowest possible credit rating, along with short and medium-term loans worth $147 billion from the International Monetary Fund and the Euro-Zone governments. The Greek government also decided on combined spending cuts and increased taxes of $40 billion over three years. Even with all of these programs set in place, many investors doubt that Greece can recover economically and politically from the crisis that it is in. While Greece does a fair amount of importing and exporting with other countries, exporting is not a major source of the country’s income. Greece exports products such as food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, and chemicals to many countries including Italy, Turkey, Germany, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and the US. These exports are responsible for approximately $27 billion of the $290 GDP. When it comes to importing goods from other countries, Greece spends approximately $58 billion a year. Greece is considered a relatively moderate income country with an average per capita GDP of $25,100. The percentage of the population under the poverty line is about 20% and the unemployment rate is near 25%, which is a reflection of the poor state that Greece’s economy is currently in. The economic distribution is not that varied with almost 70% of the population working in services, compared to 20% in industry and 10% in agriculture. The overall GDP of Greece has decreased dramatically over the past few years and will continue to do so with the destruction of their economy. If something is not done soon about the current economic and political state of Greece, we could see the destruction of the country which may eventually lead to war. After researching the current state that Greece’s economy and government is in, the future of the country looks very bleak. There is no stable government, no set economic structure, and the country’s debt continues to climb every year. It seems eminent that war is going to take place and that Greece may never recover from the situation that it is currently in. If this is true than not only will Greece be affected, but so will many other countries around the world.

Woodhouse, A Story of Modern Greece, 'The Dark Age of Greece (1453–1800)', p. 113, Faber and Faber (1968)

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