Between pragmatism and rhetoric: a critical assessment of Greece’s defence and foreign policy in the 1980s in light of new primary sources

Abstract

In contrast to other European countries in which the eighties were characterized by the cultural dominance of the ‘New Right’, Greek politics was dominated by the rise of the Greek Socialist Party (PASOK). Unlikely to the West European Socialist or Social Democratic parties of the time, Greek idiosyncratic socialism was associated with a strong nationalistic and anti-Western, i.e. anti-NATO, anti-American and anti-European rhetoric. Another feature of this period was the change of Greece’s position regarding the Greek-Turkish dispute. Greek Socialist administration in 1981–1989 was associated with increasing tensions with Turkey. The present paper critically assesses Greek foreign and defence policy during this period by drawing on archival sources from various countries (documents of the State Archive of Israel, CIA archive, the Federal Archives of the Republic Germany (Political Archive of the Foreign Ministry, Archive of the Foreign Ministry of the Former East Germany and Archives of the Mass Organizations and the Political Parties of the Former East Germany) as well as military spending and arms imports registers to show the discrepancy between rhetoric and real changes implemented by the Greek Socialist Government during its first two consecutive terms in office. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.