The present thesis evaluates the responses of the contemporary Greek foreign policy structures and processes, conceptualised as the Greek foreign policy system, in the face of the transformation of world politics. This transformation, precipitated by the concurrent complex processes of globalisation and regionalisation, pose empirical and analytical challenges to the national management of foreign policy. Consequently, government departments and agencies assigned with responsibility for the conduct of what has been traditionally termed foreign policy, namely the national foreign policy machinery with the foreign ministry and the diplomatic network at its core, find themselves challenged as roles and responsibilities are relocated. Such change underpins the machinery s institutional responses and the need to rethink its role and structure. The thesis synthesises several literatures, primarily those identified with international relations, transformational foreign policy analysis, and new approaches to diplomatic studies informed by insights from institutionalist approaches. This is combined with extensive fieldwork within the Greek bureaucracy and the diplomatic network, and seeks to cast light on a relatively understudied area: namely the organisation and nature of the Greek foreign policy system in an era of considerable change. The thesis draws a dual image of the contemporary Greek foreign policy system which displays elements of both continuity and change. According to the first image, the Greek foreign policy machinery embraces contemporary foreign policy developments, and is enmeshed in a process of change and adaptation as a response to its changing operational environment. The second image depicts the foreign policy system as traditionalist conforming to geopolitical approaches, which are linked to compartmentalisation in the organisation of foreign policy. This image is supported by evidence which suggests that the Greek foreign policy machinery is infused with elements of hierarchy, centralisation and verticality in its organisation, which prevent the adoption of integrated and horizontal models prescribed by globalist approaches to the management of foreign policy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:546764 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Georgiadou, Eleni |
| Publisher | Loughborough University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/9081 |
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