Konstantina Maragkou

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Human Rights
Social Mobilisations
Cold War
Women's History

Scopus Publications

The Relevance of Détente to American Foreign Policy: The Case of Greece, 1967–1979
Konstantina Maragkou
Informa UK Limited
This article contributes to the historiography of détente from an original viewpoint, namely the relationship between the United States and Greece. It substantiates the argument that the supposed spirit of détente did not help lessen American realpolitik considerations concerning Greece and its surrounding geostrategic region; in fact, the more Cold War antagonisms intensified in the region, the more Greece was locked in the morass of superpower rivalries. This tendency was also, ironically, re-invigorated following Greece’s adoption of its own Ostpolitik largely thanks to the spirit of détente. This paradigm was reflected in the policy of the four successive American administrations between 1967 and 1979 during which détente had become the most popular notion in the Cold War lexicon.


The Wilson Government's responses to 'The rape of greek democracy'
Konstantina Maragkou
SAGE Publications
This article is a contribution to the analysis of the era of the Greek Colonels, whose military regime ruled Greece between 1967 and 1974. In particular, it seeks to examine one of its less explored aspects, namely the British authorities’ reactions to the news of the coup. It aims to expose underutilized archival evidence proving that the British government, despite its undisputed dislike of the regime’s dictatorial features, did little to avert the consolidation of the regime’s grasp of power during its early, formative stage. In short, it attempts to offer a coherent narrative about the British responses to the unconstitutional establishment of the Greek Colonels’ regime, while accounting for the factors which led them to adopting their stance.


Favouritism in NATO's Southeastern flank: The case of the Greek Colonels, 1967-74
Konstantina Maragkou
Informa UK Limited
The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of the Cold War era on a historic event with serious consequences for Greece, namely the Greek Colonels' regime, which lasted between April 1967 and July 1974. Greece, due to its strategic position, served as guarantor of stability in NATO's southeastern flank, a benefit that the alliance considered indispensable to its strength, therefore impossible to compromise. In the light of this consideration, NATO tolerated, to put it mildly, the dictatorial, albeit pro-NATO regime that the Greek Colonels imposed on Greece on 21 April 1967. This paper will attempt to account for NATO's reactions to the Greek regime and the factors dictating them – a small, albeit indicative, peripheral segment of the puzzle of the global antagonism between the West and the East during the Cold War era.