July 25
After a wonderful three-day excursion, the Journey family returned to the classroom. Today, we had the privilege to have Mr. Nick Larigakis, President and CEO of the American Hellenic Institute, brief us about US-Greece foreign relations. AHI is the official sponsor of our foreign relations class.
Mr. Larigakis, who just came from a briefing with US Ambassador to Greece, Daniel B. Smith, spoke to us about the importance of working together as a Greek community and doing our part to advocate for Hellenic issues. The AHI president spoke about Greece's role as a loyal ally to the United States and the countries similar views on foreign policy. He contrasted Turkish and Greek relations with the United States, showing that Greece has aided the United States much more than Turkey has in the past, especially in terms of providing military facilities. Our speaker also critiqued US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s visit to Greece, explaining that it was a step in the right direction, but that she should have been more forceful in advocating for solutions to Cyprus and the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Following Mr. Larigakis’ initial statement, our group had a question and answer period. During this time questions included, "What is the possibility of a settlement of the FYROM issue? “What is the importance of the Greek lobby and the Hellenic Caucus in Congress? "What is the importance of the US appointing such a qualified, career diplomat and senior State Department official as ambassador to Greece? What can be done to stop Turkish violations of Greek air space? "Is a solution imminent in Cyprus, to remove Turkish occupation troops and have a unified island again? and What can be done to promote the solution for the Ecumenical Patriarchate in regard to re-opening the Halki Seminary and for the future of the Patriachate?"
With our newfound knowledge, we enjoyed lunch at our usual taverna. At the conclusion of our meal, we attended our afternoon classes and prepared our written work.
July 26
Following our briefing with Mr. Nick Larigakis the previous day, our group returned to Dr. Dimitriou’s Foreign Policy class and screened a documentary produced by the American Hellenic Institute, “Cyprus Still Divided: A U.S. Foreign Policy Failure.” At the conclusion of the film, our class discussed the film and the issues that have led to Cyprus being illegally occupied for over 39 years. After discussing the consequences of the film and the Cyprus situation, students were generally prepared for our afternoon briefing session!
Following our session, our group enjoyed lunch, before gathering for a briefing at the Greek Ministry of Defense. At the Ministry, Brigadier General Dimokritos Zervakis briefed us about the policies of the Greek military. General Zervakis’ multi-media power-point presentation covered a variety of issues including; objectives, policy, and statistics of the Greek military. Additional topics included the Souda Bay Military Facility, Turkish Over flights, illegal immigration, and the purchasing of new weapons and technology.
At the conclusion of the introductory remarks, the Journey students presented their questions for the General. Inquiries included:"How prepared is the military from potential threats at its borders? How does Greece mitigate human trafficking and illigal aliens entering the country? Does Greece plan to reduce military spending in light of the debt crisis? What type of Special Forces does the Greek military include?What is the new relationship of Greece with Israel and how does this improve Greece's military operations?"
After the question & answer period, we took a group picture in front of a mural with Alexander the Great defeat of Darius. We then enjoyed a reception with General Zervakis and became further informed regarding the Ministry of Defense and Greek military.
Following our time at the Ministry, students met to attend one of the famous open-air movie cinemas for the evening! After, we returned to our apartments to prepare our studies for tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment