Nikos Konstandaras

It remains to be seen how long the US-Iran deal will last, as there are many who would like to disrupt it. Today, though, both sides are bragging that they won. This was to be expected, as Donald Trump is incapable of accepting defeat anywhere, and, of course, the United States maintain its power and intent to strike Iran whenever it judges it useful, for substantial reasons or for appearances.

Greece's participation in the EU's Aspides mission in the Red Sea, and the willingness that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed for the country to contribute to a mission in the Strait of Hormuz if it is requested – and provided it has the backing of the UN Security Council – underline how much the world has changed.

Ten years ago Monday, the British voted to break away from the European Union, taking a leap into the unknown. For Brexit's propagandists, this meant the country would “take back control”; it would save untold billions from the jaws of the Brussels monster, which would then be invested at home; it would develop rapidly, without obstacles, with the Commonwealth countries (former subjects of the British Empire) racing to make beneficial deals with Britain. This scenario did not pan out. Britain lost a significant portion of its GDP (some 8%) and grew more slowly than former partners in the EU (despite the common plagues of the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, wars in the Middle East and the Trump presidency).

If we can judge by the scope, depth and very interesting findings of the research presented Thursday at the inaugural conference of the Hellenic Policy Papers in Athens, Greece is acquiring valuable “space” for discussion on the crucial issues of the economy, education, and the labor market at the time of artificial intelligence.

A few months ago, the head of Germany's giant arms manufacturer Rheinmetall saw fit to mock Ukraine's efforts to resist Russia with many cheap drones. “This is how to play with Legos,” company CEO Armin Papperger scoffed in an interview with the Atlantic. “It's Ukrainian housewives. They have 3D printers in the kitchen, and they produce parts for drones.”

Where hearts are hard and people divided, each side seeks security in the narrative of its own virtues and the inhumanity of others. There we see the divide between people who are “comfortable” with enmity and hate, and those who seek to heal wounds, to bridge chasms, who use kindness and decency to open a way for hope. The lives of those who resist the charms of the herd are not easy, nor is their success assured. They do what they do because this is what our common human fate demands – that we help each other deal with pain, that we find a way to live together.

The 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America is a very big deal, indeed. The revolution of 1776 which is commemorated on the Fourth of July (when the Declaration of Independence was approved), changed the world. It showed that the subjects of a mighty empire could revolt and establish a self-governing state of free citizens.

As we can see, we are in the twilight of the government's second four-year term, and the political chatter is obsessing over when elections will be held, despite the prime minister's assurances that he will complete his term – meaning that ballot boxes will open in the spring of 2027. In politics, events determine strategies and early elections cannot be ruled out, but there are many factors that suggest they will be held on time. So, it would be a blessing if those involved in politics and in the state's functioning got to grips with the problems that plague the country rather than wait for elections.

As in many other fields, Greece is accustomed to having to deal with complicated, difficult situations – unlike most of its partners and allies, who don't live on the edge of an always unpredictable region, nor have a (predictably) aggressive neighbor who is also an ally. In this way, the Greek delegation at the NATO Summit in Ankara will not feel out of its depth: it knows that within the alliance it must always defend its interests, must have open channels with many allies at the bilateral level, and must never take anything for granted.

The murder of Vagia Nestora, whose home in Thessaloniki was firebombed in a politically motivated attack aimed at her daughter, a member of the New Democracy party, prompts feelings of sorrow and despair. If there weren't such widespread tolerance for “training” in political violence, those who set off explosions in buildings in which people are sleeping might consider the magnitude of the danger, both to the victims of their “symbolic” acts and to themselves. But since the restoration of democracy in 1974, an era of unprecedented stability, progress and prosperity, we have seen the dominance of politics as performance – performance based on impassioned reproductions of old roles and episodes from our country's tragic past. The November 17 terrorist organization wanted people to believe that its gunmen had the right to kill whoever they chose, seeing themselves as the continuation of the resistance to the (already defunct) junta, as heirs of the losing side in the civil war. As society was rushing to enjoy all that it had been deprived of in previous decades, the murderers presented themselves as “avengers” pursuing the “enemies of the people.” They turned their victims into symbols and cast themselves as revolutionaries. The public was disinterested, but they did inspire some copycats.