cspdf, Job 181 - University of Kent

More documents

Recommendations

Info

focus of analysis, because it will illuminate the rationale of official Greek resistance to Western hegemony. Imagining Modernity I begin by highlighting the political implications of contemporary Western contempt for modern Greece. It has not been long since the assassination of the British diplomat Steve Saunders by the terrorist organisation ‘17 th November’ in Greece. On the eve of the production of an American report on terrorism, the Saunders case became a notorious example of loss of state control and disorder. It is significant that the American report and the British press converged upon one thing: that Greece displayed the signs of disorder and Oriental corruption. Greek policy on terrorism was likened to the Pakistani, and the Greek government was condemned for its incompetence. The exclusion of Greece from the geopolitical map of ‘Europe’ was a slur on Greek ‘national honour’ – a kinship term grounded in the specifics of Greek culture. It was not surprising that one of the key aims of ATHOC (Organising Committee for Athens 2004) became the preservation of security. The official website of Athens 2004 has an extensive report on how security will be tackled in co-operation with a special Greek Police Unit and a Special Forces Unit. This statement is also linked to the principles of Olympism, especially its peace-related aims, which I examine at length in the second part of the paper. A reference is made to 37 security agreements that Greece signed with other countries, and the establishment of an Olympic Advisory Group (OAG) ‘with the participation of many countries with experience on
security-related issues: the US, the UK, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, and Israel’ (Athens 2004). The presence of America and Britain in the OAG is a translucent mark of Greece’s attachment to certain Western policies; the presence of another two American (at the time) satellites (Spain, Israel) only certifies that. On an official level, ATHOC affixed itself to the American ‘antiterrorist’ movement, as ATHOC President Gianna Angelopoulou-Daskalaki stated in various interviews. Angelopoulou-Daskalaki, together with IOC security consultant Peter Ryan also debated the fear that 9/11 inspired about possible terrorist attacks in the Athens Olympiad (Canada Sports, 13 September, 2002). The fears are very real if one considers the shocking killing of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by terrorists at the Munich Olympics of 1972. However, the framework in which the argument was placed is identical to the antiterrorist manifestos of the G.W. Bush administration – a repetition that reinforces Greek internalisation of American, this time, hegemony. Following the bombing attacks in Spain (March 2004), which were attributed to terrorist forces, Greece officially asked NATO for help with Olympic security. The possibility of an Al Qaeda attack on the Olympics is aggravated by homegrown concerns that the November 17 th group will make a dramatic reappearance (CBS, 12 March 2004). Such was the fear that Greece would be ridiculed in the eyes of the powerful, that on 24 June 2004 legislation was introduced in parliament that ‘banned the use of arms by non-Greek guards for athletes and VIPs within Olympic venues and sites’ (Channelnewasia, 26 June 2004). NATO accepted the Greek invitation and promised the provision
Page 1 and 2: School of Social Policy, Sociology
Page 3 and 4: that is, the impact of Western idea
Page 5 and 6: Greek self-narration with a ‘kern
Page 7 and 8: international community, not to cel
Page 9 and 10: unbearable. In fact, the Falmerayer
Page 11: for the first Games, Greece, is als
Page 15 and 16: discourses of security, but remains
Page 17 and 18: generosity was invoked for a sole p
Page 19 and 20: 1986: 5) of Hellenic culture by mak
Page 21 and 22: esponsibility’ and to work agains
Page 23 and 24: The tautological nature of the Orie
Page 25 and 26: in a protective self-denial of thei
Page 27 and 28: a replica of modern Greece, the sel
Page 29 and 30: together with Ismail Cem, the Forei
Page 31 and 32: attitude, however, is not irrationa
Page 33 and 34: Venizelos. Back in November 1997, t
Page 35 and 36: countries). Consequently, certain G
Page 37 and 38: Cultural Olympiad, http://www.cultu
Page 39 and 40: Herzfeld, M. (2002b) The Absent Pre
Page 41: Young, D.C. (1996) The Modern Olymp

cspdf, Job 181 - University of Kent

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?