Europe in modern Greece:the constant Navarino

Greece has defined 'Europe' in many and diverse ways. But Europe-in the form of the Great Powers and/or the European Union (EU)-has also structured so much of Greece's developmental path. Historically, the Great Powers-Britain, France and Russia-were drawn in to determine the fate of the emergent modern nation, but their intervention drew back from supportive actions that would enable the country to prosper. Their motivation was, primarily, one of the strategic interests, rather than the normative pull of Philhellenism. Latterly, the country's quest for a 'catch-up' with Europe has been something of a psycho-drama: with a modernising elite never quite reaching its 'Ithaca'. Today, it is a moot point whether member states like Greece can achieve sufficient domestic reform without the EU developing new mechanisms for intervention and support. And, with a more heterogeneous EU, Greece today defines Europe's incompleteness-the limits on the EU's capacity to act. This may prove consequential for both the EU and Greece in the future.