Βασίλης Καπετανγιάννης, Συμβουλές προς τον Ηγεμόνα μιας απολύτως αναντικατάστατης ηγετικής χώρας, The Athens Review of Books, τεύχος 3, Ιανουάριος 2010

“Παρά το γεγονός ότι η Αμερική παραμένει «το αναντικατάστατο έθνος» (“the indispensable nation”),  εν τούτοις η σημερινή πραγματικότητα επιτάσσει τη δημιουργία «συμμαχιών ισχύος» με άλλες χώρες,  ως «αναντικατάστατων εταίρων», σε μια «αμοιβαία αναντικαταστασιμότητα» (“mutual indispensability”), την κεντρική επιχειρησιακή ιδέα ισχύος στον 21ο αιώνα («ή θα κολυμπήσουμε μαζί ή θα πνιγούμε χωριστά»)…”

John S. Koliopoulos, Thanos M. Veremis: Modern Greece: A History since 1821, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009

Modern Greece: A History since 1821 provides an in-depth narrative history of modern Greece by two leading authorities. The authors bring together their knowledge of primary Greek sources and their first hand experience of Greek culture to explore the political, economic, social, and cultural history of this fascinating country from ’within’. In addition, they set the country’s development within the wider geo-political framework of Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East, allowing the reader an understanding of Greek history within the context of its surrounding geographical area.

The book traces the history of Greece from the creation of the Greek state in 1821 and early conflicts over former Ottoman lands, through to Greece’s instability between the wars, and as a battleground between the Allied forces and Axis powers in WWII. The authors pay particular attention to contemporary events, including the return to democracy in 1974 and the profound economic and social changes which have arisen as a result of EU membership.

Incorporating the latest Greek scholarship on the subject, this book provides a pioneering survey and brings the story of modern Greece up-to-date.

A book review by Michael Byers on Branding Canada: Projecting Canada’s Soft Power Through Public Diplomacy, by Evan H. Potter, a former communications strategist in the Department of Foreign Affairs who now teaches at Carleton University in Ottawa. Potter’s message is that a country’s brand matters.

Evan H. Potter takes a hard look at the way this country sells itself, and finds that we come up short. We’re not putting enough money into promoting our image abroad, and we’re missing important opportunities to shine a light on our achievements, he says.

The Globe and Mail (August 19, 2008)

Read more

Κυκλοφόρησε το νέο τεύχος του Public Diplomacy Magazine το οποίο μπορείτε να βρείτε στον ιστότοπο www.publicdiplomacymagazine.com

Το νέο τεύχος που φέρει τον τίτλο «Middle Powers: Who they Are; What they Want», είναι αφιερωμένο στις προκλήσεις και τις ευκαιρίες που έχουν οι λεγόμενες χώρες Μεσαίας Δύναμης στον τομέα της δημόσιας διπλωματίας. Μεταξύ άλλων, αρθρογραφούν οι Eytan Gilboa, Andrew Cooper, Evan Potter και Simon Anholt:  “In today’s increasingly multipolar world, with only one country considered a true superpower, the middle is where most of the nations that influence shifting international agendas exist. This crowded space necessitates particularly innovative public diplomacy if countries are to distinguish themselves, and garner international attention for their niche causes. In short, it is a contested space where the players themselves struggle to determine what roles they want to take on…”

Δείτε, μεταξύ άλλων, τις ενδιαφέρουσες τοποθετήσεις των: Eytan Gilboa: The Public Diplomacy of Middle Powers και Simon Anholt: Nation “Branding”: Propaganda or Statecraft?

Καθώς και τη συνέντευξη του  Suat Kınıklıoğlu, Δ/ντη του Center for Strategic Communication της Τουρκίας: At Post: Suat Kınıklıoğlu

Anna Triandafyllidou, Ruth Wodak and Michał Krzyżanowski (ed.), The European Public Sphere and the Media, Europe in Crisis, Palgrave Macmillan 2009

This book contributes to the theoretical and policy debates on the existence and development of a European public sphere. It presents a critical discussion of the links between media, history and politics in Europe by looking at the re-organization of ideological and political determinants (such as Left-Right or East-West) and debating the existence of a European editorial culture. The volume also examines how international crises have been debated in national media in Europe throughout the post war period. It looks empirically at the national media coverage of eight crisis events: the 1956 revolution in Budapest, the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the May 1968 youth revolt in Paris, the events of August 1968 in Prague, the declaration of a state of war in Poland in 1981, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the outbreak of the Second Gulf War in 2003 and the Mohammed cartoons crisis in 2006.

Athanasia Papangelopoulou: ‘The Division of Cyprus and Paths to its Reunification: An Analysis’, A thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. Department of Government. University of Essex, May 2005

The focus of this study has been the nature of the partition of Cyprus. Its main hypothesis has been that the conflict has been created and sustained through the construction of two enemy ethnic identities on the island. One of the principal assumptions of this thesis has been that this is a process closely connected with power relationships in Cyprus.

My research has looked into the way the conflict has been problematised by the dominant ethnic discourses, which have been present in accounts of the Cyprus issue, official publications and the Cypriot school history textbooks. My aim has been not only to contest the dominant assumption of fixed primordial ethnic identities but to show that the representations derived from this, in turn themselves constitute a discourse which recycles the enemy relationship of ethnic identities that ethno-nationalism has constructed.

A large part of this research has concentrated on the evolution of these conflicting ethno-nationalisms and their nexus with the political. At the same time, I have investigated the challenges to ethno-nationalism by an inclusive Cypriotist discourse, which mainly the Left parties in both communities have advocated.

However, having looked at the efforts for bringing an end to partition, my conviction has been that the negotiations have been hampered by intransigent ethnic bargaining rather than by a need to address the people of Cyprus as a whole. This has also been evident by the failure of the most recent Kofi Annan plan. My suggestion is that a negotiated settlement for reunification will be possible only if the ruling elites of the two communities cooperate and take initiatives for rapprochement, which will bring their communities together through a reconstruction of the rival ethnic identities towards an inclusive political identity for all Cypriots.
 

Το βιβλίο του Niyazi Kizilyürek «Οι Τουρκοκύπριοι, Το Κυπριακό και η Τουρκία» (εκδόσεις Παπαζήση) πραγματεύεται την πορεία της τουρκοκυπροακής κοινότητας από την οθωμανική περίοδο μέχρι και την εποχή πριν από το σχάδιο Ανάν,  και από την άλλη αναλύει την πολιτική της Τουρκίας στο κυπριακό μέχρι και την άνοδο του Κόμματος Δικαιοσύνης και Ανάπτυξης του Ταγίπ Ερντογάν στην εξουσία.

Το βιβλίο παρουσίασαν την Πέμπτη, 9 Απριλίου 2009, στο βιβλιοπωλείο IANOS οι καθηγητές Αλέξης Ηρακλείδης, Σία Αναγνωστοπούλου και ο συγγραφέας Τάκης Χατζηδημητρίου. Συντόνισε ο δημοσιογράφος Μιχάλης Μορώνης.

Τμήμα Τουρκικών και Μεσανατολικών  Σπουδών, Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου: Niyazi Mustafa Kizilyürek