Discontinuities in Greece’s Middle Eastern foreign policy practice

Does the Greek foreign policy fail to capitalise on extant weaknesses of an existential threat and if so, why? The study highlights the role of the ‘Eastern threat’ as key foreign policy concern in the Greek foreign policy agenda. It demonstrates why the Greek Middle Eastern foreign policy practise, developed in a context of ambiguity, is marked by discontinuities to maintain consistent policies and patterns of relationships compared with its (Middle Eastern discourse). The result of these persistent discontinuities for almost five decades is an ad hoc Greek foreign policy practise. The paper addresses this puzzle by triangulating novel data from recent interviews with Greek foreign policy officials with public announcements and speeches as well as with secondary sources and official documents. It reveals that key causes include the neglect of other types of “actorness”, and the structures (epitomised in the ideational kind here) as these are portrayed through the role of the leadership in the failure to develop a holistic foreign policy approach. Collaboration between states and non-state actors is a well-established strategy in Middle Eastern international relations. The consideration of both structures and actors, in void of the prioritisation of states over non-state actors, in the examination of the foreign policy practice reflects the theoretical value of this case study. The work is perceived through the lens of the IR and informs theories of foreign policy-making as well as the recent scholarship on new regionalism focused on the role played by non-state agents.