A Very Public Private Man: Euro Crisis

Showing posts with label Euro Crisis. Show all posts

Friday, 12 April 2013

On European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

The EU is tangential to what I really want to know; SADC regional security policy. But I believe Ovid was on to something when he said: "You can learn from anyone even your enemy." Ovid's quote is quite apt if we admit David Mitrany's hypothesis that regional integration is national rivalries writ large. By which he meant, wars will no longer be fought between nation states but between continental unions, due to regional integration schemes.

by Kudakwashe Kanhutu

Greater than the sum of its parts?

To what extent have member states been required to sacrifice autonomy in national foreign policy through the creation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy?

Introduction:

The question to what extent have states given up their autonomy as a result of the codification of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) under Title V of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), lends itself well to one of the key integration debates. This debate can be characterised as this question: is the EU inexorably taking steps towards a federal union or do the national governments always retain control over the pace of integration? Theoretical approaches falling in either the supranationalism or the intergovernmentalism camp markedly evince this debate. As an example, Federalism and its precepts falls in the supranationalism side of the debate, and a theory such as Neorealism – which is state-centric – would support the primacy of national governments: intergovernmentalism.

CFSP is the attempt by the European Union (EU) to speak with a single voice in its foreign relations with third countries. My paper seeks to answer the question whether the EU has evolved to the extent where ‘high politics’ now admit themselves to meaningful pooling of sovereignty. The history of European integration has no shortage of examples of states refusing to allow any encroachment on their sovereignty in issues pertaining to foreign and security policy. I will, to an extent, be relying on the competing theoretical approaches to integration to try and highlight where change has occurred and where it has not. The fact that the intergovernmental approach was largely retained for CFSP, and the introduction of the veto power under the Amsterdam Treaty suggests that states are determined to maintain their autonomy.[1] But, other factors such as Europeanisation, institutionalisation and, the demands of the current international strategic environment, augurs well for the argument that autonomy has been severely curtailed under CFSP. Before we go on to speak of the merits of either argument, it is also useful to hear the voices who propose that only states can have a foreign policy.

Can the European Union Have a Foreign Policy?

Three different arguments from different groups of scholars are presented on this score by Brian White. He notes the first argument that; EU foreign policy already exists as an integral part of European integration, and this can be seen in its codification in the TEU.[2] This first argument is suggestive of neofunctionalism’s spillovers postulate, which predicts that integration in ‘low politics’ will create pressures to integrate in ‘high politics.’[3] The second argument he presents is that European foreign policy does not yet exist, but there is a need for it owing to the failures of the EU to deal with crises, especially in the Balkans.[4] This argument is cognisant of the external pressures exerted on Europe to act in concert so as to effectively tackle problems that cannot be solved unilaterally. The third argument is from a group whose view it is that a ‘European foreign policy does not exist, it never will and, moreover, it never should!’[5] The third argument is, perhaps, an extreme way of saying only nation states can be thought of as having a foreign policy. This third view finds support in David Allen’s position that “the determination to preserve national foreign policies is ultimately at odds with the ambition to create a European foreign policy.”[6]

What these three points of view exhibit is that different theoretical approaches on the same subject can come to diametrically opposed conclusions. However, in this case, the third viewpoint that EU foreign policy cannot exist, is confounded by the reality. The first two arguments have a basis in current reality. The current reality is that there is a variety of actors in the international system which can be thought of as having a foreign policy. The EU as it exists is one such actor. Hazel Smith’s definition of EU foreign policy captures this possibility for the EU. She has defined it as; “the capacity to make and implement policies abroad that promote the domestic values, interests and policies of the European Union.”[7] From this definition, the logical question to ask is if the EU possesses ‘actorness’ and therefore common values, interests, and policies to promote abroad? Once we have established this we will then be able to look at what impact, if any, the advent of CFSP has had on member states’ autonomy in foreign policy.

EU ‘Actorness’

The four attributes that award a body ‘actorness’ (or agency) in international relations are listed as recognition, authority, autonomy and cohesion.[8] The first attribute seems unproblematic for the EU. Recognition refers to the extent to which an entity is accepted and interacts with others.[9] European External Action Services (EEAS) missions around the globe can be seen a sign of this recognition. The second attribute – authority – can be thought of as the legal competence to act,[10] and here, the question becomes does the EU have a legal personality? This question has been answered by Bretherton and Vogler, who see ‘no necessary correspondence between achievement of legal personality and actorness in behavioural terms.’[11] They thus argue that it is not necessary to have a legal personality to be a competent authority in world affairs, weak states have legal personality but do not exert as much influence as the EU.[12] The EU therefore has this competence insofar as other actors request its services, as in the invitation by the parties to the Aceh/Indonesia Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which resulted in the EU’s Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) of 2005 - 2006.

Autonomy and cohesion are attributes that have a direct bearing for the question at hand of whether member states have sacrificed their autonomy as a result of the advent of CFSP. Autonomy refers to ‘institutional distinctiveness and independence from other actors’[13] whereby “an international organization, to be an actor, should have a distinctive institutional apparatus, even if it is grounded in, or intermingles with, domestic political institutions.”[14] Again the EEAS would be an apt example of the institutional apparatus charged with giving the EU a coherent external projection, despite the intergovernmental nature of foreign policy articulation. The fourth attribute, cohesion, is the extent ‘to which an entity can formulate and articulate internally consistent policy preferences.’[15] This fourth attribute is said to have four dimensions, namely; value, tactical, procedural and output cohesion.[16] Value cohesion refers to compatibility of goals; while the ability to make incompatible goals fit each other is tactical cohesion; procedural cohesion is consensus on rules and procedures; and lastly, output cohesion is the member states’ ability to successfully formulate policies.[17] This last attribute and its dimensions is cogent for the EU as it can explain how CFSP can be possible regardless of differences. To my mind then, the EU possesses all four attributes of ‘actorness.’ Still, the question remains to be answered why member states have not yet allowed the foreign policy domain to become supranational to the same extent as, for example, the European Central Bank (ECB). Further still, why did the Amsterdam Treaty actually allow member states the power to veto a vote where a special national interest is threatened?[18]

Actor Sui Generis?

The existence of these residual sensitivities for national governments with regards foreign and security policy would give credence to the neorealist argument that national governments retain autonomy even under CFSP. But, the edges can be taken off the neorealist argument somewhat if we follow the direction of Michael Smith with regards how to properly conceive European foreign policy. He argues that to think of the EU as either a supranational entity or an intergovernmental one is to misunderstand the nature of the beast completely.[19] The argument here is that the EU should be treated as ‘sui generis – a new kind of international actor.’[20] This logic leads us to accept Keukelerie and MacNaughtan’s position that ‘EU foreign policy is a complex multilevel policy network… . where EU member state interaction is not a simple two level-game, with the national and EU levels remaining neatly separated. Rather EU and national foreign policies are interconnected and mutually influencing.’[21] According to this frame of reference then, the EU’s foreign policy defies both supranationalist or neorealist instrument-of-state-power conceptions. Thus, the EU, conceived as actor sui generis, must then yield to us the provisional conclusion that: while member states’ foreign policies still exist and are important, CFSP meaningfully impacts national foreign policies.[22] This impact is then the extent to which national autonomy in foreign policy has been required to be given up by member states due to CFSP.

The reason why my paper has tried at length to establish whether the EU can have a foreign policy; to establish its ‘actorness,’ and furthermore, how theoretical approaches perceive the CFSP debate, is that this will lend a degree of exactness to my analysis. To have thought of the EU as an entity at the cusp of becoming a supranational state or as a purely intergovernmental entity would have completely missed all the complexity. But, viewed as a multi-level policy network, the EU allows us to concentrate on the interaction between the different levels so as to see if the policy output is a reflection of this interaction.

The other salient issue for any polity whether we call it sui generis or a village community, is, do their interests converge or are they in conflict? Where interests conflict, are there agreed procedures and rules for their harmonisation? Are the rules respected or is defection the norm? For this paper then, the question is does the same EU – I have attributed actorness to – have common interests to project to the world, and how does it deal with divergence of interests?

Common Interests:

It is a truism of international relations that ‘two countries, even allies, seldom have identical national interests.’[23] This then is seen as one of the obstacles to a CFSP. Indeed, the fact that foreign policy did not become integrated at the same pace as did trade and economic policy does reflect national governments’ sensitivity to national interests conceived as vital interests. This truism however does not take into consideration generational changes specific to the EU, and, the argument presented above of the EU as actor sui generis capable of deploying the cohesion ‘actorness’ attribute, when goals conflict. By generational changes, I mean that the existential threats faced by European leaders between 1945 and 1991 are not exactly the same as those faced by EU leaders today. Therefore, the divisive force the national interest was shortly after the Second World War in Europe, cannot have remained unchanged after so much time has elapsed. As well, changes in the international strategic environment have also foisted challenges on Europe that demand collective action. Thus, the very act of articulating a CFSP is a response to the new environment’s imperatives which demand collective action by the EU if success is to be achieved. I have already mentioned that the failures in the Balkans after the disintegration of Yugoslavia made the EU member states realise that working in concert could produce results that unilateral action could not.

A further point related to commonality of interests we can admit here is the democratic peace thesis, which allows us to argue that the divergences of EU member states’ interests are those of degree rather than kind. The national interests of North Korea can hardly be reconciled with those of Sweden, but Sweden’s differences with France can be bridged. The fourth attribute of ‘actorness’ mentioned above – cohesion – ensures then that the EU under CFSP can mostly iron out their differences and present a united front. One of the latest example of this united front being Baroness Catherine Ashton’s declaration on North Korea on behalf of all 27 member states as well as for the candidate and acceding states.[24] This can be contrasted with the lack of cohesion in the African Union (AU) which saw 20 countries recognise Libya’s National Transitional Council in 2011 despite the fact that the AU position was that there would be no such recognition while fighting was going on.[25] What this point illustrates is that the four attributes of ‘actorness’ I discussed above and said were all embodied by the EEAS, make the EU more than the sum of its parts. To an extent, the member states have been institutionalized to negotiate a position to project to the outside world within the EU despite their national interest differences, unlike my AU example above. What then is the logic behind this phenomenon? Why do member states allow themselves to be made to toe the line under CFSP?

Impact of CFSP: Europeanisation:

The argument has also been made that there is a paradox to integration. The paradox is that ‘CFSP actually represents a rescue for national foreign policies.’[26] The argument here is that CFSP has allowed member states who were on the wane to become powers to reckon with again, capable of advancing what has always been their foreign policy preferences. Again, this can be contrasted with the equally valid assertion that ‘participation in the CFSP of the EU and the external relations of the EC alters the foreign policies of member states.’[27] Europeanisation admits to these two contradictory charges. On the one hand Europeanisation refers to ‘the penetration of the EU into the politics, institutions, and policy making of member states’[28] This is a situation whereby member states’ policies can be seen to have changed owing to being part of the EU. The evidence of this is easier to discern among acceding members who are required to align their policies with those of the EU. Sweden would be a good example with regards how much of their long-standing neutrality policy they have had to cede to become a member.

The other salient form of Europeanisation refers to the ‘bottom up’ form whereby states upload their preferences to the EU level.[29] This is a situation whereby some states’ constitutional designs allow them to be pace-setters for the EU agenda.[30] By so doing these countries can then pursue their foreign policy with the legitimation and capacities of the EU. France which has traditionally preferred a strong Europe to counter-balance the United States is often cited as one country that has benefited from Europeanisation as a ‘bottom up’ activity. Blunden records that the end of the Cold War weakened France’s position, and only the advent of CFSP has been a power multiplier for France.[31] But even so, it still is ‘a negotiated convergence between the national and supranational’[32] which is the position I have defended throughout my paper. Even if national capacities favour one nation uploading its preferences, the unanimity rule in reaching decisions on CFSP and the extant contiguity of values in the EU ensures that nothing alien to core values can be introduced to the EU.

CFSP is also an improvement from the previous European Political Cooperation (EPC) and hence has more institutionalized constraints on member states’ autonomy. While foreign policy in the EU has been placed in the intergovernmental second pillar under the Maastricht Treaty, the fact that national governments and elites have been socialised by CFSP’s demand for consistency to consider the EU level when making policy, also bodes well for the impact of CFSP.

Conclusion:

My paper has attempted to ascertain the extent to which member states have been required to give up national autonomy under CFSP. I began by trying to avoid the pitfalls of analysis inherent where the EU has been attributed the wrong ‘actorness.’ To this end I argued that the EU should be viewed as actor sui generis, therefore, any analysis should be based on the understanding that CFSP is a multi-level policy network where the national and supranational influence each other.[33] I have also made the point that the EU is capable of having a foreign policy of its own, owing to its possession of the four attributes of ‘actorness’ I expanded on above; recognition, authority, autonomy and cohesion. The most salient point of these attributes is cohesion as it means the EU is capable of making incompatible goals and divergences fit through a negotiated ‘convergence of the national and supranational.’[34] I then discussed the EU’s common interests so as to ascertain if divergences are potent enough to ensure states will not cede their autonomy in national foreign policy. The observation here was that there is a remarkable contiguity of interests among EU member states and the differences so far can be bridged. This factor, of contiguity of interests, makes it difficult to discern whether CFSP has forced member states to give up their autonomy or they have just continued on the path they would have followed anyway without the EU. We may have to wait until the EU asks Britain and France to cede their Security Council seat to the EU before we are able to discuss an unbridgeable divergence of interests. Europeanisation was also admitted as the paradox that has rescued national autonomy as well as curtailed it. From all the foregoing, the cogent conclusion must be the generally accepted logic that institutions are a middle-level concept; constructed by agents for their benefit but then place constraints on them. EU CFSP is such an institution.

Bibliography

Aybet, Gulnur. The Dynamics of European Security Cooperation: 1945 – 1991. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1997.

Blunden Margaret. “France.” In The Foreign Policies of European Union Member States, edited by Ian Manners and Richard Whitman. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000.

Bretherton, Bretherton and John Vogler. The EU As A Global Actor. New York: Routledge, 2006.

Cmakalová, Katerina. and Jan Martin Rolenc, “Actorness and legitimacy of the European Union.” Cooperation and Conflict, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2012): 260 – 270.

European Council. “Declaration by the High Representative on Behalf of the European Union.”08/03/2013 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/cfsp/135886.pdf (accessed 17/03/2013).

Greiçevci, Labinot. “EU Actorness in International Affairs: The Case of EULEX Mission in Kosovo.” Perspectives on European Politics and Society, Vol. 12, No. 3 (2011): 283-303.

Hill, Christopher and Michael Smith. International Relations and the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Keukelerie, Stephan and Jennifer MacNaughtan. The Foreign Policy of the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Mail & Guardian. News Africa. “No, We Still Won't Recognise Libya's Rebels, Says Zuma.” 26/08/2011 http://mg.co.za/article/2011-08-26-zuma-cuts-a-lonely-figure-at-aus-libya-powwow (accessed 17/03/2013).

Manners, Ian and Richard Whitman. The Foreign Policies of European Union Member States. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000.

Roskin, Michael G. “National Interest: From Abstraction to Strategy.” In US Army War College: Guide to Strategy 2001, edited by Joseph R. Cerami, and James F. Holcombe. http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub362.pdf (accessed 17/03/2013).

Smith, Hazel. European Union Foreign Policy: What It Is and What It Does. London: Pluto Press, 2002.

Smith, Michael E. “Researching European Foreign Policy: Some Fundamentals.” Politics, Vol. 28, No. 3, (2008): 177 – 187.

Soetendorp, Ben. Foreign Policy in the European Union. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 1999.

White, Brian. “Foreign Policy Analysis and European Foreign Policy.” In Rethinking European Union Foreign Policy, edited by Ben Tonra and Thomas Christiansen, 45 – 61. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004.

Saturday, 20 October 2012

Stranger In Athens 2012

"All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it" - Dr Samuel Johnson.

Standing on Areopagus Hill, overlooking Athens.

by Kudakwashe Kanhutu

Where do I begin? What style should I use? I think I will ask myself a few questions and my answers to them should be an expose and, hopefully, an advert for others who enjoy travel as I do, to also travel to mainland Greece. I also put a lot of pictures at the end which form a photo essay of this diary.

Why Athens?

My desire to visit Greece is in some way related to my Christian faith. I will tell you how. The place I have always really wanted to visit is Israel. I want to see all the places where the events in the bible happened; Christ’s tomb (empty of course!), Jerusalem, Galilee, Nazareth and a host of other places mentioned in the bible. But alas, the people who are currently settled in Israel are doing a lot of unchristian things to each other that I hesitate to visit. So, because of security concerns and other misgivings, Israel is not on my cards. Another country with such a long history and rich traditions has to suffice in Israel’s stead.

Greece is an old civilization that dates back to Christ’s time and even before. There is a strong tradition of Christianity in Greece. The Corinthians, a Chapter in the New Testament, testifies to these facts. There was even a chance of visiting the temple in Corinth which St Paul visited just after the ascendancy, but I will get to that later on. My draw to Athens however, was worldly and not at all spiritual. By this I do not mean I went in search of Greek beauties. No Sir. No Madam. I only mean that as a student of the art of war, literature, politics and international relations (worldly stuff), I am intimately conversant with the fact that there is a lot that the modern day world owes to Greek ingenuity. Democracy was invented here. Algebra (although I imagine maths students would curse rather than rejoice this fact), Geometry, Epic Poetry, Theatre, the Olympics and, a whole host of other things I am not aware of, are Greek inventions. Let’s quickly agree that I was under no illusion that I was visiting a perfect society. An amusing anecdote which forewarned me against this kind of illusion suffices at this point:

The Jerusalem Syndrome:

"The best known, although not the most prevalent, manifestation of the Jerusalem syndrome is the phenomenon whereby a person who seems previously balanced and devoid of any signs of psychopathology becomes psychotic after arriving in Jerusalem. The psychosis is characterized by an intense religious theme and typically resolves to full recovery after a few weeks or after being removed from the area.” (Wikipedia).

I read an article by a travel correspondent for Time Magazine a few years ago, who recorded, with examples, the phenomenon described above by Wikipedia. He recorded an American tourist who was picked up by police wandering the hills around Jerusalem in flowing white robes (presumably to deliver his Sermon on the Mount), then there was the burly German who abused staff at a Jerusalem hotel for preventing him from “preparing the last supper.” The correspondent explained this as how disappointment manifests itself among people who visit Jerusalem expecting an epiphany but, instead, find themselves in an earthly city with traffic jams and garbage disposal problems just like any other. They then enact what they expected to find! The point for me is not the accuracy of the diagnosis, the point for me is, thus, I did not expect Greece to be a model for all the ideals.

Getting There?

My Swissair Airbus at Geneve Aeroport.

Squeamish friends questioned the wisdom of travelling to Greece when all we hear on the news is violent targeting of foreigners by nationalist groups in Greece. I was very dismissive of such a concern for three reasons, one; I am a nationalist myself and therefore know, inside out, the etiquette for dealing with other nationalists in their country. There are a few golden rules, such as; Do NOT try to run for president while over there, do NOT monopolize the means of production while paying the locals peanuts, also, do NOT be rude and offensive to their national symbols. I did none of the above. The second reason why I was unconcerned by worries of attacks on myself is that without recourse to state machinery, I feel I am on equal footing with any individual that may wish to cause me harm. If the state is complicity in these attacks on foreigners, my own state should be able to pay them in kind (if not now, then at some point in the future). Thirdly, and this is my main point, whoever expects the conditions of his or her living room to subsist everywhere is not suited to travelling. You travel to experience new things, some good and some bad. So there was no reason not to go.

A first sight of the Swiss Alps en route to Athens.

Sea, Air or Land?

Crossing the Saronic Gulf starting from Piraeus. The wine-dark-sea of Homer's description.

By any means necessary!

Crossing Aegina Island by quad bike.

I love flying and, always have, since my background is in Civil Aviation. I even love the little noise the aerilons and spoilers make as part of the pre-flight checks by the cockpit crew. So you guessed it, a flight would be involved in my trip to Greece! I will repeat here what Sir Thomas More said in Utopia, that the dead can get to heaven from anywhere. You can get to Greece from anywhere, I live in London, actually Canterbury, at the moment so I left from London Heathrow. I hope you sense my disappointment in only being airborne for 3 hours (my journey time from my departure port), for when I travel I don't travel to arrive. The journey too, for me, is a part of the vacation. Having worked for a national airline, I tend to root for national carriers or big airlines as opposed to the budget airlines that have sprung up like mushrooms recently. The service is better and the safety record is quite excellent. I don't know about you but I am weaning myself off the Easyjets and the Ryanairs of this world, so I chose Swissair and, surprise, surprise, it was cheaper than the "budget airlines," they served me food and I didn't have to pay to use the toilet on board. They even gave me a free take home souvenir and some Swiss chocolate, now tell me; who has been perpetuating this false rumour that budget airlines are cheaper than real airlines?!

My Swissair flight was leaving Heathrow at 7am to Geneva and the onward flight would leave for Athens around 3pm. Here, I almost made the classic mistake that is to be avoided like the plague. I made the same mistake in January when I went to Madrid and earlier again in 2011 when I went to South Africa with a stopover in Dubai. The temptation is great if you are not wealthy, to exploit stopovers and take a quick look around the stopover city; so as to tick the destination off your places-to-visit-list. Rookie mistake! Not to be condoned by the serious traveller, in fact it should be condemned by the serious traveller. In January, I saw Madrid on the run; there was just no time. I breezed into Madrid Barajas Airport at 10am and my flight out of Madrid was at 1800hrs, there is no way you can take in a city's attraction in 8hrs. I literally had to run through Prado Museum in Madrid, who does that?! At the Santiago Bernabeu, the other visitors must have thought I was on amphethamines because of my agitation and impatience when they lingered too long in a photo op spot. Then, at the Puerta De Alcala, a man running away from war would have hung around longer to take in this magnificent sight. I have no memories of Madrid at all, I see places that I visited appear on TV, and I don't know even their names, let alone their histories. So it was, that, initially I was thinking to race into Geneva during my stopover, so as to get it out of the way but I, rightly dropped that idea. I will visit Geneva separately, soon!

London Heathrow. 27L?

The Swiss run a smooth operation, I hear their banks, clocks and even cheeses are of a very high standard. My experience with their airline confirmed for me the truth behind Swiss efficiency. Even on the journey, Dr Samuel Johnson's quote I used to open my narrative was being proved to be quite incisive. I would copy some Swiss practices in a heartbeat. We left Heathrow's Runway 27L like a dream at 0700hrs. A smooth flight and a dream like landing at Geneve Aeroport, with its stunning snowcapped mountains watching inescapably, ensured. Impeccable time keeping is one thing I would take from the Swiss experience. I managed to look around the airport briefly when I was there, but soon had to board another Swiss Airbus heading to Athens. The holiday proper had now begun!

What Sensations On Arrival?

Enter, Athens

Travel is a personal as well as a shared experience. My personal reason was, I wanted to take a break from the monotony of my War Studies that I had imposed upon myself during the June to September break from University. It was very important for me, therefore, that any political lessons be minimal for me on this trip. I took off my student-of-War-and-Strategy hat, and put on my indifference-to-issues hat. I was not even going to watch the news. But you also meet new people when you travel, so the personal agenda is not so set in stone. The way my travel was configured anyway, I was going to make new friends who would, no doubt, want to know my position on issues. I deliberately set this up when I decided to take the two day group tour of Delphi and Meteora with strangers, but I will come back to that later on.

On arrival in Athens, my Jerusalem Syndrome moment did not arise because, as I said earlier, forewarned is forearmed. Because I did not have great expectations of Athens, I was pleasantly surprised to find a smooth run operation when I got there. Courteous airport staff, train staff who make announcements in English and Greek, Sign posts with both languages, polite bus drivers and polite people who speak both English and Greek. You see, with French and Spanish, at least I know to say je'taime, au revoir, adios, ola, but I didn't know a single Greek word to save my life. I still don't!

The Greek are a friendly people. I checked into the Hotel Ionis presently and within 10 minutes I was back on the street heading to the Acropolis, Athens' main attraction. Would you believe it, I came back from my holiday without entering the Acropolis parameter because, like a madman, I had thought I can take in all of Greece's sights in 5 days. Rookie mistake! When I got to the Acropolis, it had closed for the day since it was around 1800hrs. I managed to get to Areopagus Hill which is adjacent to the Acropolis and affords the same stunning view of Athens as from the Acropolis. My Christian eagerness was satisfied here, for no other than Saint Paul preached to the Greeks from this very spot. It is said he told the Greeks at this rock that, "Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the lord of Heaven and Earth and does not live in temples built by hands." The Greeks had their gods and built temples for them, but they had an inkling of another god they did not know and St Paul opened their eyes to whom it was. Please go there for yourself, you will learn more than I did because I was, unthinkably at the time of the planning of my trip, pressed for time.

On my flight back from Athens the Greek businessman I was sitting next to jokingly asked me if I had had a helicopter in Greece when I told him of all the places I had been to and the ones I missed out on. I will quickly list them here: Aegina Island; Agistri Island; Lamia, Delphi, Mt Parnassus; Thermopilai, Monument of Leonidas, Thessaly Plains, Meteora, Kalambaka; Athens, Vouliagmeni Lake, Asteras Beach, Piraeus. In these major places there will little detours to various sights and places of interest, I missed out on a multitude of the attractions despite being in these places. I will also run down for you the places I wanted to see but could not; Mount Olympus - the home of Olympian Zeus, Cape Sounion and the Temple of Lord Poseidon the earthshaker, Corinth where the New Testatement Book of Corinthians draws its name from, Sparta, Crete, Mykonos, Chios, you name it! There is so much to do in Greece, you need a month to feel you have seen anything at all. But we do what we have to do.

What Did I Get Up To?

On arrival therefore, I had already taken in the Acropolis (albeit from a distance), managed to see all the attractions that surround the Acropolis such as the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Aeropagus Hill, Syntagma Square (Parliament House), Roman Agora, The National Garden, and the Academia. While these seem like quite a haul, the sights I missed are book length, Athens has that much to see e.g the Museums, Hadrian's Library, the Ancient Agora, Theatre of Dionysus, Panatheniac Stadium, name the man or woman who can list all of the sights I missed in one sitting! So it was that I would have to be satisfied with the few places I saw. As it turns out the Greeks are friendly people. I met a glorious girl during my walk around the city and we agreed to have to dinner at a restaraunt near the Acropolis later that evening. It is always a delight to spend time with free spirited people.

I was also aware that I had to take in the nightlife on arrival night, because although my main hotel was in Athens, I was going to spend other nights in hotels outside the city. This was poor planning again on my part, for it means I paid for two hotels on the same nights. Much later in the same night then I went club hopping in the Gazi District of Athens (the "Spanish nights" at Club Socialista was the most outstanding experience!) I have seen things. On the first night I did not go to bed until 6am, breakfast was at 7am if I was to make the early trip I had planned for my second day. Technically therefore on the first night I paid for a hotel room that I did not use except as a storage room for my clothes. At least I made use of the breakfast part of the bed and breakfast designation of my stay...

Cape Sounion, Vougliameni, or Asteras?

With a goddess like Greek beauty at Asteras Beach

The best beaches in all of Athens are in Vouliagmeni district, this is on coastal road towards Cape Sounion. I had planned to go to Cape Sounion and take a look around the Temple of Poseidon, the earthshaker. Homer gave Poseidon such a prominent role in the Odyssey and the Iliad, that I wanted to pay homage. I had to drop this however due to time constraints, instead of going all the way to Cape Sounion then making my way back to Athens seeing the beaches, I resolved to just go as far as Vouliagmeni and leave Sounion for next time. Cape Sounion out, it was a matter of visiting Vouliagmeni Lake which is a lake whose waters are fed by a volcano of some sort thus retains a steady 25 degree temperature throught the year. The waters are also said to have medicinal properties. I never tested this theory for when I arrived at the "lake" the Mcdonalds Syndrome struck! Anyone who has ever gone to Mcdonalds to buy a Big Mac enticed by the pictures on their lorries will tell you that the picture tells a false story. When I got to the "lake" I saw that it was not a lake but a pond and only old people frequent it. In my mind I had visions of watersports, yachts and etc, No chance!

It's only lucky that directly across from the "lake" there is a host of Athens' cleanest beaches, Asteras Beach being the best of the pick. So instead I went across to Asteras, paid my 10 Euro entry. This fee is well worth it because of the facilities you have access to, changing room, loungers, sunbeds, tennis courts, volleyball courts and the like. It was here that I had my best outdoor sleep ever. Asteras Beach is one of those shallow water beaches and the sand is ribbed due to the gentle motion of the seas in this part of the world. The waters are crystal clear as well and it was so calming and peaceful. I met some Greek people who invited me to a party later-on that evening but I declined as I had a dinner date back in Athens with the Greek girl I had met the previous evening. Asteras Beach also has The Temple of Apollo in its perimeter. Oh Joy! I could have stayed all day here but sadly had to return to Athens city. Vougliameni is the most affluent districts of Athens and I plan to stay here on my next visit.

Back in Athens it was dinner and the inevitable ending up in the nightclubs of Gazi District. Returning to the hotel at 6am as usual. It was on my way from Gazi on this night that I experienced discrimination, but not from the usual suspects, I will say something about this at the end under the subheading; politics. My return to the hotel at 6am was necessitated by the fact that my tour group was coming to pick me up for the highlight of the visit. A trip to the centre of Greece. Delphi and Meteora 2 Day Tour.

Was This The Trip That Made My Trip?

I must answer with an emphatic yes. Without this part of the trip Greece would have not been that attractive for me. I took an All Greece Travel guided 2 Day Tour of Delphi and Meteora. I will not preempt what this entails but only to say it has to be done. The best aspect was that our guide was an encyclopedia of Greek history, culture, politics, economics, current affairs, geography and add whatelse! This trip takes you to the ancient monasteries atop the massive boulders of Meteora on the Thessaly Plains via the Temple of the Oracle at Delphi. In ancient times, no statesman made a major decision affecting the state without first consulting the Oracle at Delphi. We left Saturday morning after our bus had picked up all the other tourees (is that a word) and headed out on the E75 highway towards Thessaloniki. I am unable to tell you much about the route as I slept like a baby on the bus owing to not having slept the previous night as I was out in Gazi. The only time I managed to sleep in my hotel room during this trip was in Meteora at Amalia Hotel, but that is only because Meteora in Kalambaka is remote and there was no nightlife near my hotel. I learned a lot here and made good friends with the strangers that made part of my tour group. It was a delight culminating with us having lunch in the shadow of the massive rock boulders of Meteora. All Greece Travel then returned us to our hotels in Athens by Sunday and I proceeded to stay out again in Gazi. So for 4 nights in a row, my main hotel room only served as a storage place.

Agistri or Aegina Island?

Both! Would I go to Greece and not visit the islands? No sir, no madam, not likely. Agistri and Aegina are easily reachable by boats from Piraeus in Athens. I took the Hellenic Seaways Flying Dolphin service to Aegina then onwards to Agistri. My plan was to to go around Agistri on horseback. It's quite a small island but when I got there I was already cutting it too fine and the horses were only available from 5pm. I still had to go Aegina, so was forced to take the bus and walk to the beauty spots of Agristri. I will not say what I saw at Halkiada Beach, #stillshakingmyhead! Go and see for yourself.

By the time I got back to Aegina, I was now in a headlong rush, there was no time. I wanted to see the Temple of Aphaia. Swimming in the sea there was no longer a priority for I had swam my fill at Halkiada Beach in Agistri. The best way to cross Aegina is by quad bike. I found this out quite accidentally after the bus ticket-agent had been very dismissive of me. Granted, I was speaking in English and he in Greek (my usual way of communicating whenever I travel) , but I am also very fluent in body language so I know if someone is being rude to me. I refuse to pay any money to rude people despite any inconvenience this may pose to me. This is my usual rule. So as I was walking away in disgust at the agent, I saw a good spirited New Zealand family who were hiring quad bikes to go in the direction I was going, I paid my share of the cost and we were off like a dream across Aegina Island returning by nightfall to hand back the quad bikes and re-cross the Saronic Gulf back to Piraeus. Oh Joy!

Incidentally?

Schalke 04, the German Football Club were in town for a Champions League match against Olympiacos Piraeus. When I got to the Olympiacos Piraeus stadium, I called on a favour from my Greek friends in high places and got a pitchside guest pass to watch Schalke 04 train for their game. Friends in the right places! This also became a sight seeing tour as I managed to take in the stadium. I love football so this was a good extra.

Pitch-side with Schalke 04

I will be the first to admit that the things I did in Athens are dwarfed by what I didn't do, so I am going back!! Definitely. After the Olympiacos Piraeus experience, I returned to my hotel to change and head back for dinner in Gazi district and the usual night on the town. At 5am I returned to the hotel to briefly sleep in anticipation of my being kicked out at 12pm, I think the polite people at the hotels call it, euphimisticallty, checking out.

End Of The Trip?

You would think, but how wrong you would be! My return flight was not on Swissair, I had instead booked Lufthansa German Airlines. I have always had great respect for the Lufthansa's operation from my days at Air Zimbabwe. My flight from Athens was therefore via Frankfurt on Lufthansa with a 1 hour stopver there to change aircraft. All my life I have always secretly hoped for a delayed flight so as to enjoy a complementary holiday. To quote the brilliant Greek girl I had been in conversation with the previous days in Athens; "if you want it badly, the universe will give it to you!" How else do you explain that our flight that was running 20 minutes ahead of scheduled landing in Frankfurt suddenly was diverted to Nurnberg owing to freak bad weather over Frankfurt? How else do you explain that while we were in Nurnberg, the refuelling overshot the required fuel by 2 tonnes? All this time there had been an outside chance we may still make our connection with the London flight. Our Flight Commander on the Lufthansa Airbus A321 - 200 aircraft initially considered defuelling but overruled himself instead and chose to fly out then hold over Frankfurt until all the excess fuel had burned out. You see, planes cannot land with excess fuel. So a trip that should be about 15 minutes became a 1 hour 15 minutes flight, making it just in the nick of time as I am told Frankfurt airport closes at 11pm every night due to its proximate location to residential areas. Thank you universe! I got what I have always wanted.

SHERATON FRANKFURT!

The Sheraton at Frankfurt Airport

I missed my connection flight and needless to say I was now in Lufthansa's care to wait on me hand and foot! This is exactly how I got my extra day of holiday in Frankfurt. I made sure I was booked on the latest available flight to London, so went into the city and looked around. I was struck by Germany's beauty close up and will still make a trip to take an even closer look. The highlight was certainly my stay at the shockingly expensive Sheraton Hotel. It is out of my league and even if I could afford it, I don't know if this would not put a serious dent in my practical-guy-credentials. All the same it was the most beautiful night's sleep I have ever had.

Rooms at the Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel and Towers Conference Centre, courtesy of Lufthansa after having delayed me!

The Politics

In Greece? I was completely switched off from politics but I could not help notice that the good people of Greece have been made to suffer by the foolish decision to join the Euro currency. I hated that aspect about whoever made this decision on behalf of the good people of Greece. Secondly I also found it odd to see a lot of stray dogs on Athens' streets. Where was the GSPCA? A third point and this relates to the discrimination I experienced that I mentioned earlier. On my way from Gazi district at 5am one night I saw some black sex workers (one of my papers last year investigated the plight of people crossing the Mediterranean illegally from North Africa), here was a chance to talk to them and find out how it was for them. I asked how much the cost was (the cynic may think I was soliciting here but I wasn't, honestly), to which these women told me they don't deal with black men, they only deal with white men. If I wanted it, it would be 100 Euros upfront. Now you tell, rejected by my own people!

Would I Do It Again?

Yes Of Course!!

See you in Athens next year...

Photo Essay:

Below are some of the things I got up to. I would do it again. I apologise that the photos may be out of sequence as this is my first foray, but in my next article, there will be some semblance of order, so that the title photo essay will be apt.

The briefest of stopovers in Geneve on the way to Athens.

My destination (Aegina Island) viewed from the air, at this point I was thinking I will save some money by walking from one end to the other, no chance!