Thursday, January 29, 2015

Populism

Syriza has a strong populist narrative, supporting the people against the oligarchic elites as the only way to rescue a crumbling economy. That line can be socialist or nationalist. So it seems curious that that the new leftist Greek government should position itself in support of a mafia state, run by kleptocratic oligarchs, with a crumbling economy, an authoritarian conservative ethos and an aggressive foreign policy. They seem to be joining far right Hungary in a pro-Putin nationalist bloc in the EU.

What is going on? I do not pretend to be an expert, just a person with an attractive vested interest in Pelion. So, here's another interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal via Marcus Walker (but don't read the comments! I thought CiF was bad), arguing that they are being driven by a tactical repositioning rather than an ideological affinity. But it is clear that there is a nationalist/leftist tension at work.

This, from Joanna Kakissis, is worth reading too. But at the moment, all is speculation. Only time can tell.

3 comments:

looby said...

The WSJ is behind a paywall here. I don't suppse I could tempt you anarchistically to copy and paste it could I?

The Plump said...

And sadly it has disappeared behind a paywall for me too. It originally wasn't. So sorry, I can't.

looby said...

Okeydoke, not to worry, thanks for trying.