EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis): For years and years this author along with a few other voices, were shouting in every direction that the U.S. and Greece have so many common interests that it was foolish not to explore them fully. As is usually the case, it was the “human factor” that played the most important role in the “sea change” we are now witnessing. First, it was Google and Microsoft that suddenly “discovered” the countless bright minds in Greek universities. Then came Tesla – whose electric car battery was entirely developed by a Greek team of engineers from the famous Athens Polytechnic (post-WWII considered to be a sister institution with MIT) and finally Pfizer, whose CEO, Albert Bourla, is a product of the University of Salonica… And in the end, it might have been the realization that a “Greek Hub” with over one hundred Greek and Greek-American companies exists in Silicon Valley…
In the meantime, during the last 5 years, the hyper-active Ambassador Jeffrey Pyatt abandoned the useless visits to Mt. Athos and put his focus where it produced results, in deepening military cooperation at all levels. And at the same time, it seems that energy development South of Cyprus and Crete is finally becoming a priority… All the pieces of the puzzle make more sense now as EU dependence on Russia for over 40% of its energy proves to be a very risky road…
But again, it is the human factor that unites both countries: The 4,000 yr old Greek maritime and entrepreneurial tradition with the equally historic – inscribed into the Greek DNA – aptitude for science, finally woke up the sleepy bureaucrats of Washington DC… It is truly a match made in heaven – one that should have happened many decades ago… It is never too late…
Εστάλη στην ΟΔΥΣΣΕΙΑ, 27/12/2021 #ODUSSEIA #ODYSSEIA Κώστας Βαγγελάτος