Voices of dissent: thwarted Hellenic visions for Cyprus (1954-1974)

ABOUT THE EVENT

 

Based on extensive archival research, the talk delineated the trajectory of a latent vision for Cyprus that was propelled by ideas which deviated from the dominant government policies of the postwar period. These were discernible in the works of well-known Greek politicians, diplomats and men of letters throughout two decades crucial for the resolution of the crisis, starting with Athens' policy shift that led to its plea to the UN in 1954 and up until the invasion of Cyprus twenty years later. It addressed several underlying themes and neglected insights integral to this current: a commitment to championing Cyprus' liberation from British rule grounded in the dynamic movement for decolonization rather than in the calls for imminent Enosis; an investment in Greece's long-term position within the Western alliance in the context of the Cold War environment; finally, a deep, pragmatic and nuanced comprehension of the wide-ranging repercussions that an official adherence to the cause of Enosis would have in the postwar landscape for Greece's overarching national interests.

 

 

Dr George Kalpadakis is a senior researcher at the Academy of Athens (Modern Greek History Research Center) and visiting professor at the University of Vienna (Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies). He has lectured on international relations, foreign policy analysis and diplomatic history at the Departments of Law and Political Science at Democritus University of Thrace and at the Department of Political Science at the University of Crete. In 2022-23 he was a Lewis-Gibson Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Greek Studies (CGS) of the University of Cambridge and in 2021-22 he was awarded a Fulbright Foundation grant to conduct research as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Centre for European Studies (CES). He has been a Visiting Scholar at the Centre of Development Studies (CDS) of the University of Cambridge and a Research Fellow of the Hellenic Center for European Studies (EKEM) of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). His study on the Macedonian name dispute (3rd reprint, 2023) received the Academy of Athens Award in 2013. His books also include: The Cyprus conflict, 1954-1974 (3rd ed. 2024), The Balkan Confederation of Ioannis Kapodistrias (2023) and Foreign policy of Modern Greece. Civil society and the contribution of Ernest Gellner (2018). He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Scandinavian Journal of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies and the European Journal of History and Culture, and has been a member of the Editorial Board of Millennium: Journal of International Studies. He holds a B.Sc. (Honours) from the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (HPS) of University College London (UCL), a M.Sc. from the Faculty of Economics (International Relations) of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a Ph.D. with Distinction from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens (2009).