Greek-American lobby group looks back
A new book that offers a scholarly historical account of Greece’s role in WWII and the strong links between Athens and Washington was recently released in the United States by the American Hellenic Institute Foundation (AHIF). The Washington-based, Greek-American lobbying group announced early last week the release of its latest book in a series of publications, titled Greece’s Pivotal Role in World War II and Its Importance to the US Today. The book is a compilation of 14 essays by noted scholars from American and Greek universities and experts from both countries, offering a concise historical account of events that shaped Greece’s history from World War II onward. This volume is designed to illuminate Greece’s efforts in World War II and to set forth the reasons for Greece’s importance to the US today. It is my hope that this volume will stimulate much additional scholarship on Greece’s historic role in World War II and in the 20th century as well as Greece’s importance to the US in the new millennium, editor and president of AHIF Eugene T. Rossides wrote in the preface. General Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA (Ret.), former supreme commander of NATO, who also contributed his comments in the book’s preface, noted: As the years pass, it becomes more and more necessary to recall and record for new generations just how the people of Greece, alone or with allies, gained and held for their country for a century and more the independence and democracy it possesses today – and how in one special moment in history Greece at heavy cost and sacrifice and with great courage and determination played a pivotal role in World War II in defying the forces of tyranny and Axis aggression that were arrayed against not only Greece but the whole of Western civilization. It is an inspiring story. Essays on WWII, diplomacy In the book’s 220 pages one finds 14 essays that detail Greece’s role in the alliance and independent actions during WWII, as well as the bond that was created between Athens and Washington during the Cold War, and which extends until today. The essays include: – Mussolini’s Parallel War: Italy Attacks Greece, October 1940 by James E. Miller, professor in the Department of History, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC. He is chair of Italy and Greece-Cyprus Area Studies courses at the Foreign Service Institute; – The Greek-Italian War: The View from the US Embassy in Athens by John O. Iatrides, professor of international politics at Southern Connecticut State University; – The Costs to Greece of World War II and the Post-War American Reconstruction Program: Eight Voices by James C. Warren, Jr., former chief of the Import Program Office of the Marshall Plan Mission to Greece for more than four years; -Greek-American Relations From the Early Cold War to the Present: An Overview by Athanassios G. Platias, associate professor of strategic studies at Panteios University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens; – The Military and Geostrategic Dimensions of the Truman Doctrine by Lt. Gen. Photios Metallinos, Ret., special analyst in international relations, Hellenic Institute of Strategic Studies; – The Importance of Greece to the US – Past and Present by Eugene T. Rossides, founder of the American Hellenic Institute, the AHI Foundation and a member of the board of directors of the Eisenhower Institute. The book sells for $20 and can be ordered from American Hellenic Institute Foundation, 1220 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA. Tel. 202-785-8430. One word Greeks and Turks of Cyprus use to describe the Roma is kilinjiri, a derogatory term otherwise used to describe someone filthy and unkempt.
