Pavlos Roufos
PAVLOS ROUFOS lives in Berlin and is doing research on the global crisis, with a focus on the Eurozone. His book A Happy Future is a Thing of the Past: on the Crisis, Greece and other Disasters will be published by Reaktion Books/Brooklyn Rail in early 2018. He occasionally writes articles on Greece for Jungle World, a Berlin weekly newspaper. His articles on Greece appeared in the February, March and July 2015 issues of Field Notes under the name of Cognord.
Shortly before Donald Trump’s electoral victory, a bizarre alliance of sorts emerged: from one side, military and foreign policy bureaucrats, neocon hawks and politicians, mainstream liberals and their favorite press outlets (Financial Times, New York Times, the Economist, etc.); from the other, left-wing militants, anti-racist activists, social justice warriors, and other fans of democracy.
It appeared that the endless saga of the negotiations between the Syriza government and the European lenders had come to an end. After five months of ferocious zigzags, suspense, and fear, a certain deal had been reached. A sense of relief was radiating from the world press, the technocrats, and government bureaucrats. Whether the deal would be a success or not, however, seemed to depend on whom you ask.
Predictions are often problematic. The complexity of the issues, the variety of important factors, and the unpredictability of social subjects forbid such attempts, and usually discredit those who make them.
The announcement of national elections in Greece, roughly two years before the coalition government of New Democracy and Pasok completed their term, immediately sparked a renewed interest in this southern and economically peripheral European country.