{"title":"Love and Power: A Midwestern First Lady by Margarita Papandreou (review)","authors":"N. Karakatsanis","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3618094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3618094","url":null,"abstract":"In 2000, I briefly corresponded with Margarita Papandreou, seeking her permission to use extracts from her personal correspondence, which I had come across in my own research. I still possess those letters. In the first, Margarita (first name used to distinguish her from other Papandreous) gave me permission to quote her. In a second letter, she invited me to call on her on my next trip through Greece. While that call was never made, I recall being pleasantly surprised by her warmth and generosity — clearly a sign of unpretentiousness by a former first lady who was willing to give time to someone she did not know. Her personal memoir, Love and Power: A Midwestern First Lady, appears to confirm this character trait and sheds light on the complexity of one of Greece’s most politically active and longestserving first ladies since the fall of the Greek dictatorship. A memoir of her public and private life, the book focuses on Margarita’s work as a feminist within Greece, her activism internationally, and her personal life, especially her marriage to Andreas Papandreou and subsequent divorce. Margarita’s work as an activist in the Greek women’s movement began when she and Andreas returned to Athens after the fall of the military dictatorship. There, she founded the Women’s Union of Greece (EGE), the first and, at the time, only grassroots organization for women in the country. In her book, Margarita chronicles EGE as well as her own work to revise the Greek family code and to legalize abortion in Greece. Particularly interesting is her account of the closed-door meeting she and other leading EGE members had with Archbishop Seraphim of Athens, when they endeavored to persuade the archbishop on the issue of abortion. Her memoir is full of such interesting","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"79 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114743161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Gates of Greece: Refugees and Policy Choices","authors":"Ismini A. Lamb","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3618072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3618072","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The scale of the migrant crisis took Europe by surprise in 2015, but 2016 promised to be far worse. Europe dithered on how to respond, confusing the demands of compassion with migrant relocation policy and failing to recognize Greece’s inability to resolve the crisis independently. Pioneering academic work on refugees and assimilation limns the essential choices policy makers have: (1) throw open the gates to Europe and hope new Muslims citizens will eventually assimilate, (2) exclude Muslim immigrants and try to subordinate Islamic beliefs to European norms for those already in Europe, or (3) test whether Islamic countries are able and willing to support the current international liberal order, including freedom of conscience on matters of faith. Greece’s current weakness means it will have to accommodate whatever choice European leaders make.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"439 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121680246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Change and Leadership in Foreign Policy: The Case of Turgut Ozal’s Premiership in Turkey, 1983–1989","authors":"Erkan Ertosun","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3618061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3618061","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This essay seeks to explain the source and magnitude of change in Turkish foreign policy during Turgut Ozal’s premiership. In doing so, it employs theoretical studies on foreign policy change and the role of the leader in such processes. The essay argues that Prime Minister Ozal assumed the role of the authoritative leader in Turkey’s foreign policy decision making, which was the main source of change in that period’s foreign policy. Further, it demonstrates that during the period from 1983 until 1989 there were changes in the level of effort as well as shifts in the methods and aims of Turkish foreign policy. Nevertheless, this period did not witness any comprehensive or fundamental changes at the level of international orientation.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"223 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116370588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reading the Memoirs: Some Notes on Turkish Soldiers’ Political Thoughts","authors":"H. Şahin","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3618050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3618050","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The military’s attitude toward the political realm is problematic in Turkey. While, on the one hand, it accepts the notion of civilian control, on the other hand, it has sometimes exercised tutelary functions or overtly intervened in politics. This essay argues that political thoughts of soldiers have an explanatory power in understanding this dilemma. It examines a set of more than 150 life narratives written by soldiers. Memoirs, autobiographies, and journals are relatively convenient means through which to explain one’s personal thoughts. An elaboration on those texts suggests that soldiers have an ambivalent perception of the political realm, and this serves as a basis for the legitimization of their political actions. The implicit idea that they are the ultimate guardians of the country is embedded in the fact that they are respectful of democracy and are in favor of civilian control in their discourses.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"138 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127568092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Ottoman Empire from 1923 to Today: In Search of a Usable Past","authors":"N. Danforth","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3618039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3618039","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Since its demise, the Ottoman Empire has been repeatedly reinvented. This essay traces the diverse and often unexpected ways that Ottoman history has served divergent political agendas over the past century, exploring the empire’s progression from religious to secular to pious and from multicultural to Turkish to tolerant.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126869968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Europe and Its Seas in the Twenty-First Century","authors":"Magnus Nordenman","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3488038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3488038","url":null,"abstract":"While Europe is normally viewed through the prism of the great Eurasian landmass, the continent is absolutely dependent on the global maritime domain for commerce, resources, energy extraction, and security. Today Europe faces a number of maritime challenges, ranging from uncontrolled immigration across the Mediterranean to a newly assertive Russia that expresses its ambitions at sea. Europe has so far not formulated a comprehensive approach to the maritime domain and has responded to challenges in a reactionary fashion. Europe must now, however, devise strategies and approaches that can help safeguard European interests at sea.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128593551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Mediterranean’s Future in an Age of Uncertainty","authors":"Peter O. Engelke","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3488027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3488027","url":null,"abstract":"As tempting as it is to forecast the Mediterranean’s future through the bleak lens of its present, it is unwise to do so. Over and again throughout history, writing the future through the linear extrapolation of contemporary trends has proven foolish. This essay identifies the most critical socioeconomic, political, ecological, and geopolitical drivers of change that together will shape the Mediterranean’s future. It analyzes the possible impacts of three major trends (demographic imbalance, ongoing empowerment, and rising natural resource stresses) and three critical uncertainties (the future of collective identity, the role of distant global powers, and economic turbulence).","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128823019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From Karamanlis to Tsipras: The Greek Debt Crisis through Historical and Political Perspectives","authors":"G. Bistis","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3488049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3488049","url":null,"abstract":"The year 2015 started with a great promise for austerity- harmed people in Greece, but within a few months the promise began to fade as reality sunk in. It was a year that the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) achieved a historic electoral triumph in Greece. SYRIZA came to power promising to end the austerity era. However, from its first days in office, the new government realized that keeping this promise would be a far greater challenge than winning the election. Cancelation of the austerity measures required renegotiation of Greece’s bailout loans, loans that were conditional on Greece’s implementation of these measures. Given that the European lenders had their reasons for setting things up this way, it was not long before Greece’s strong anti- austerity drive set the country on a collision course with the eurozone. The negotiations between the two sides are examined in this essay through the perspective of Greece’s half- century- long relationship with the European Union and against a backdrop of personal observations and comment, relevant public sentiments, and critical events defining each period discussed.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130355143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Urban Renewal Projects and Democratic Capacities of Citizens","authors":"Sultan Tepe","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3488071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3488071","url":null,"abstract":"Many of the urban renewal projects (URPs) in consolidating democracies are not market- led projects but rather projects initiated by the state and implemented by the private sector. Promising to improve urban poor regions with URPs poses unique challenges and opportunities to residents, yet their microfoundations and the impact on citizens remain largely unexplored. Tracing the ways in which state, economic, and individual factors interact in two drastically different URPs in Istanbul, this resident- centered approach highlights two contradictory patterns: (1) citizens’ increasing dependency on the central government and reluctance to protest and (2) the exigency to raise land- based demands beyond the confines of elections. Together these introduce URP residents as a new critical urban force in their respective democracies.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"88 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117245994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Nile River: The Continuing Dispute","authors":"F. Lawson","doi":"10.1215/10474552-3488082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1215/10474552-3488082","url":null,"abstract":"Recent studies of Egypt’s long- standing dispute with Ethiopia over the distribution of the waters of the Nile River assume that the adoption of the Nile Basin Initiative in 1999 heralded a sharp turn toward regional conciliation and harmony. This assumption is unwarranted, given Cairo’s insistence that its “historic rights” to the Nile be preserved and the belligerent response by Egyptian politicians to Ethiopia’s inauguration of the Millennium Project in the spring of 2013. A careful survey of recent relations between the two states demonstrates that the dispute retains a high potential for severe conflict.","PeriodicalId":298924,"journal":{"name":"Mediterranean Quarterly","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115212274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}