Greece and Great Britain React Differently to US Initiatives
NCM Online, Paolo Pontoniere, Posted: Sep 23, 2002
In Greece, politicians are looking for ways to shield their country's economy and foreign policy from US interference. Meanwhile, in Great Britain, the government seems to be totally comfortable with American intrusion in its internal affairs.
Greece is scheduled to assume responsibility for the rotating presidency of the European Union early next year. The Aegean nation has concerns about how much initiative it can exercise during its EU leadership tenure if the US attacks Iraq. Such an attack, reason Greeks, will require the EU to assume a reactive, rather than a proactive, stance for the duration of the conflict.
Nikos Christodoulakis, Greece's minister for the economy, fears that a war on Iraq may accelerate the downward trend experienced recently by European stock exchanges, especially by Athens' stock market. With values averaging below the 2000-point mark, the Athens market is currently floating at its lowest level since October 1998. This fact, combined with the recent climb to $28 for a barrel of crude oil, has--according to Christodoulakis--"placed the economy of the region in a state of alert and defense.”
The Greek government, which just received a substantial influx of cash through financing made possible by European Union assistance programs, worries that its newly arrived financial resources may get swallowed up by economic turmoil unrelated to Greece's real state of the economy and the inflationary dynamics of the Aegean region.
To forestall the likely adverse outcome of a non-UN sponsored war in the Persian Gulf, Costas Simitis-Greece's prime minister--and Christodoulakis are planning a diplomatic offensive directed at sensitizing their European colleagues to the economic and security risks that a unilateral US action may generate in other parts of the world.
In fact, for Greece, there's more at stake than just the state of its economy. To support its proposal for the conclusion of Cyprus's stalemate with Turkey, and to provide a response to the claims that Ankara's authorities place on the Aegean Sea, Greece has put all its hope in United Nations-sponsored resolutions. Athens believes that any solution to these problems must be reached within the context of international law and within the framework of the UN.
Between 1960 and 1974, Cyprus was an independent island. Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided into a Turkish-occupied north and a Greek-sponsored south. Even though any American action against Iraq will not take place on Aegean shores, Greek analysts believe that any American initiative that is not ratified by the UN may weaken UN authority and may greatly undermine the very basis of Greek foreign policy with respect to Cyprus. In addition, Greek leaders believe that increased international relevance for Turkey, stemming from the central role that the military of the Anatolian state would assume in a US-led invasion of Iraq, can only damage the current precarious equilibrium in the Aegean region.
Meanwhile, the UK government seems perfectly OK with the idea of a secretive American investment group that may take over control of Britain's most coveted defense asset: the QinetiQ Laboratories. Recently renamed the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), QuinetiQ and its researchers could easily compete with 007's Mr.Q's inventiveness. Great Britain's efforts have yielded the creation of a plastic tank that is capable of escaping radar detection and an ultra-sophisticated system for mapping sea beds.
Now the British press reports that the 9000-employee-strong DERA may be acquired by the US's Carlyle Investment Group.
A group with significant investment in the oil and defense industries, the Carlyle Group is mythical for its secretiveness and for its connection to the Republican Party and the Bush family. Frank Carlucci, former secretary of defense during the second Reagan Administration, is Carlyle's CEO. George Schultz, secretary of state during the Reagan administration, and James Baker, secretary of state in Bush senior's administration, are members of the Carlyle Group's Board of Directors, while John Major, former British prime minister, is the European representative for the group.
The most controversial presence among the ranks of the group's officers is George Bush senior himself. Bush senior's link to the Carlyle Group has been repeatedly questioned in the US, where some analysts have urged the former president to dissociate himself from a group that may benefit from his son's war initiatives. Last year, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, the Carlyle Group decided to float one of its divisions, the armored vehicle and howitzer manufacturer United Defense, on the New York Stock Exchange via an initial public offering. The timing of the offering drew criticism that the Group was cashing in on terrorism. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Carlucci, Carlyle's CEO, have been buddies since they went to Princeton University together. Recently Judicial Watch, under the Freedom of Information Act, obtained copies of correspondence in which the two men discussed ways to restructure the US Department of Defense.
The link between the US Administration, the Bush family and the Carlyle Group has become relevant in the UK. British critics of the government's decision to cede a stake of DERA to the Carlyle Group have become verbal. They fear the loss of control of one of Great Britain's defense industry crown jewels to foreign interests and they cite what may be improprieties in the way defense policy decisions are currently made in the US.
In addition, British media point to the fact that, until recently, the Carlyle Group has been investing for the Saudi Royals and the bin Laden family. Even though, since September 11, the Carlyle Group has severed its relations with the bin Laden family, British media have noted that former President Bush has not yet seriously considered how his sitting on the board of the group may be affecting his son's decisions.
Sources: Acquisition Monthly, Athens News Agency, kathimerini, SecurityPark, Ta Nea Online, TendersDirect, The International Herald Tribune, The Observer
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