GREEK STUDIES (EN)

RIEAS launches the “Minas Nomikos Award for Security Research Excellence”, Click on to Read more:  Greek version   &  English version  and  Amikam  Nachmani  award

Dr Nicolas Laos
(Political Analyst, RIEAS Member in the International Advisory Board)

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

Since 2008, humanity in general and the Western world in particular have become deeply aware that a peculiar crisis threatens the very foundations of the established civilization and contests old world-conceptions.

In December 2012, the U.S. National Intelligence Council’s draft “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds” recognized that, even though, for much of the last fifty years, the international system remained stable, the first decade of the 21st century made it amply clear that the international system –as we know it today and as it is represented by such organizations as  the IMF, World Bank, WTO, WHO, OECD, United Nations and NATO– must be reformed or, otherwise, the power of its core institutions will be substantially decreased and these institutions may even become obsolete. According to the same global trends publication by the NIC, new institutions should be expected to emerge that will contribute to the reshaping of the international system with significant implications for the U.S.A. and the Western world in geopolitical, security and economic terms.

Ioannis. Th. Mazis
(Professor of Economic Geography and Geopolitics, University of Athens, Greece),

Copyright: Papazissis Publishing Company

Note: From the book of I. Th. Mazis, Professor of Economic Geography and Geopolitics,University of Athens,Papazissis, Athens 2005 (with the special collaboration of D. Tompros & F. Apostolopoulos).

The Need to Create a National Security Council

“Let’s not kid ourselves. Good intelligence does not necessarily mean good policies. Neither do good politics lead to a good intelligence service. The steps are small, slow and steady. Fireworks are not often seen”....   Read more

Special Economic Analysis 

"In view of the recent dramatic evolution of finances in Europe and the world, RIEAS publishes its own appreciation of the European situation"

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

The essay analyses present Eurogroup States finances, with emphasis on Greece, explain why present measures to circumvent the crisis do not work and demonstrates why more and more Eurogroup countries collapse financially and how this will evolve. It addresses further the issue of growth which is just now being accepted as a remedy with its possible formulations and how this will affect the economies of Europe and Greece. Finally it states what can be expected in Greece for the next twelve months and the lessons of the crisis....   Read more

Dr Nicolas Laos
(Founder and President of the Kairological Society – Reality Restructuring Resources Inc, & RIEAS Member of International Advisory Board)

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

Introduction

Policy analysis underpins and informs policy making, even if there is a lengthy lag between policy analysis and its gradual absorption into political debate. Once established as common sense, a text of policy analysis becomes incredibly powerful, because it delineates not only what is the object of knowledge but also what it is sensible to talk about or suggest. If one thinks and acts outside the framework of the dominant text of policy analysis, he risks more than simply the judgment that his recommendations are wrong; his entire moral attitude may be ridiculed or seen as dangerous just because his theoretical assumptions are deemed unrealistic. Therefore, defining common sense and, in essence, what is ‘reality’ and ‘realistic’ is the ultimate act of political power. Policy analysis does not simply explain or predict, it tells us what possibilities exist for human action and intervention; it defines both our explanatory possibilities and our moral and practical horizons. Hence, ontology and epistemology matter, and the stakes are far more considerable than at first sight seem to be the case.....  Read more