Negotiating the American Presence in Greece: Bases, Security and National Sovereignty

Eirini Karamouzi

doi:10.1080/07075332.2021.1925327

Abstract

American military bases and the political and social reactions they have solicited have had a major impact on the Greek political life. This article offers a synthetic analysis of the base negotiations in the period of democratization and rising anti-Americanism that integrates diplomatic with social history to tell for the first time how both Washington and Athens framed, understood and negotiated the status of the bases on the Greek soil and what was the role of the Turkish factor. Newly available evidence shed light on the motives of both players and unveils a dynamic and complex interchange between international and domestic pressures, the Turkish threat, the role of political parties, congress, and civil society.

Highlights

This article offers a synthetic analysis of the base negotiations in the period of democratization and rising anti-Americanism that integrates diplomatic with social history to tell for the first time how both Washington and Athens framed, understood and negotiated the status of the bases on the Greek soil and what was the role of the Turkish factor
Negotiating the existence of American bases on Greek soil was a major issue of Greek politics and public protest, an obstacle in Greek-United States (US) efforts to a harmonious relationship, and a constant thorn in Greek-Turkish relations with an impact on US security policy in the southern flank of NATO
The complex context in which base policy was developed in the US and Greece opened these bases to continued debate and conflict

Summary

Introduction

Negotiating the existence of American bases on Greek soil was a major issue of Greek politics and public protest, an obstacle in Greek-United States (US) efforts to a harmonious relationship, and a constant thorn in Greek-Turkish relations with an impact on US security policy in the southern flank of NATO. Base rights were not about military operations; they were ‘quickly tied up in larger debates about self-determination and sovereignty, economic aid, and the post-war order’.1 Examining these talks unveils a dynamic interchange between international and domestic pressures, the role of political parties, and civil society. The investigation of the talks reveals what (if any) the political consequences of persistent antiAmericanism within the public were.[9] Anti-Americanism, as expressed in protest or public opinion, ‘rarely overthrows governments or does not usually alter foreign policy doctrines, but it mitigates the scope of action of leaders’, and it is evident in the base talks here.[10] This does not mean that the base negotiations should be told though the hegemonic lens of a patron-client relationship. With access for the first time to the Papandreou and Reagan archives, this article highlights how Greek and international press, alongside memoires of the key protagonists, show a much more complicated picture where ideological and political concerns had to be reconciled with geopolitical realities

The history of base negotiation in Greece

Papandreou and the bases

The talks begin

Never say goodbye?

Notes on contributor