ABSTRACT
The two Cold War alliances, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, have recently become the subject of penetrating research. Especially regarding NATO, scholars have focused not only on its military function and its threat perceptions, on the crucial transatlantic relationship, but also on the alliance’s role as a major expression of a value-oriented west. This article will examine Greek perceptions of NATO throughout the Cold War era. It will be argued that membership of the Western alliance was one of the pillars of post-war Greek policy, which aimed exactly at integration in the west. However, the Greek-NATO relationship went through significant fluctuations, for many reasons: the inadequacy of NATO military structure in the Southern Flank; the inflated expectations of Athens (especially on the issue of economic aid from the alliance); and also because of NATO’s reluctance to interfere in the Greek-Turkish dispute, especially during the Turkish invasions into Cyprus in summer 1974, when Athens protested by withdrawing from NATO military command. By the mid-1970s, Greek threat perceptions needed to cover the eventuality of a conflict with a NATO ally, and this significantly complicated the country’s relationship with the alliance. However, a return to normalcy was effected gradually, as Greece was also acceding (and stabilizing its position) in the European Communities. Despite problems, NATO membership remained one of the major foundations of Greek worldviews and foreign policy.
