Flash brief from the #greekrevolution | 130 comments (123 topical, 7 editorial, 0 hidden)

Mazower in the Guardian on Greece (4.00 / 7)

A moving and hopeful piece, against the mood of the times, by a leading historian of modern Greece (and the Balkans)

NYT, Mark Mazower, "Democracy's Cradle, Rocking the World":

And now today, after the euphoria of the '90s has faded and a new modesty sets in among the Europeans, it falls again to Greece to challenge the mandarins of the European Union and to ask what lies ahead for the continent. The European Union was supposed to shore up a fragmented Europe, to consolidate its democratic potential and to transform the continent into a force capable of competing on the global stage. It is perhaps fitting that one of Europe's oldest and most democratic nation-states should be on the new front line, throwing all these achievements into question. For we are all small powers now, and once again Greece is in the forefront of the fight for the future.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Thu Jun 30th, 2011 at 08:00:17 PM EST

Re: Mazower in the Guardian on Greece (none / 0)

An amazing historian. His Salonika book was astonishing.

by Upstate NY on Thu Jun 30th, 2011 at 09:36:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Mazower in the Guardian on Greece (4.00 / 4)

many cheered again a few months later when a young left-wing resistance fighter named Manolis Glezos climbed the Acropolis one night with a friend and pulled down a swastika flag that the Germans had recently unfurled. (Almost 70 years later, Mr. Glezos would be tear-gassed by the Greek police while protesting the austerity program.)

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Fri Jul 1st, 2011 at 08:00:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Mazower in the Guardian on Greece (4.00 / 3)

Tear-gassed at very close range