Alexis Papachelas

A lot has been written about Donald Trump’s choice for the next ambassador to represent the United States in Greece.

There are certain things that unmistakably remind you that, no matter how far this country has come, it still partly belongs to the Third World. These may be “small” things – things we barely notice, perhaps because we've grown too accustomed to them.

A visit by a deposed king was a huge political deal 30-odd years ago, with some people even viewing it as a genuine threat to the nation. The government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis was even compelled – under pressure from the media – to scramble helicopters and navy ships to keep an eye on the former royal family, as if they were carrying out an invasion. History's wounds were still very fresh. The protagonists of Greece's political stage at the time were the same people who appeared in the political drama and the divisions that led to the April 21, 1967 coup. They were marked by the political passions of the 1960s. It was a time when one side of history didn't even have the right to be heard.

Running out of ambition is one of the worst thing that can happen to a country, to a nation, and especially in a rapidly changing world, where nothing can be taken for granted. Greece went through a major economic and social crisis and the risky acrobatics of 2015, which made us afraid to celebrate our return to normalcy. We no longer had to worry about whether we could withdraw money from the bank or whether the country belonged in the eurozone or not. It is easy, however, for this kind of relief to turn into complacency, even inertia. And stopping that from happening requires care, attention and goals, ambitious goals. A lot has been accomplished in the past few years. The country is experiencing a period of political stability and fiscal discipline and predictability. It also has a prime minister with a strong international profile, who is able to talk convincingly to foreign investors.

The main topic of discussion in Greece these days is not who will become president or whether the war in Ukraine will end quickly once Donald Trump assumes office in the US. It is a phenomenon: how tens of thousands of Greeks are flocking to the cinema for a film on the life of music legend Stelios Kazantzidis. It's hard to find anyone who doesn't feel like the film “spoke” to them in some way. Everyone describes scenes of packed cinemas with people singing along with the protagonist.

The late premier Costas Simitis is very likely to win the one battle that no politician gets to see the outcome of: the battle for his legacy.

Come Monday, the world will be changing and anyone who claims to know just how will need to produce a degree in wizardry or astrology before they can be believed.

A second term in government is always tiring, not to say exhausting. Whether or not there’s a rival matters little, though having a strong opponent challenging your primacy can act as a good tonic for fatigue.

Everyone who knows America well and has been observing it for years is – at the very best – feeling numb right now. But we need to move on; we need to move past the shock and the sadness and to take a look at what lies ahead.