The past may be prologue, but it is first necessary to know what that past is, a growing problem in a modern age when so much is miswritten, misunderstood or forgotten. This dilemma of “secret” history is now a factor in the Greek debt crisis, says ex-U.S. diplomat William R. Polk.
By William R. Polk
After all the press reports on Greece in recent weeks, can there be any secrets? Yes, there are. Indeed, I suggest that, even though the press indicates that the Greeks have given in to most of the demands of their creditors, the underlying (or secret) realities are likely to resurface in the detailed negotiations to follow in the coming days and weeks.
To consider that possibility, first let me define what I mean by “secrets.” Such “secrets” are present conditions that grow out of past events and are not generally known until some future time. They sometimes “blindside” statesmen who are reduced to saying, “never mind how we got in this mess; all we can do now is to try to deal with it.”
A scene in Santorini in the Greek islands.
For many political leaders, the past is treated like a closed book, a “secret” history about which neither they nor their constituents inquire. That failure to fully comprehend the past often causes people to leap into even more crises in the present and the future.
What has this to do with the Greek problem today? To find out, let us look at a few of the “secrets” of the major actors in the Greek drama. Consider, first of all, the position of the main task master of Greece, the German government. Under Chancellor Angela Merkel’s leadership, it has adopted a simple and seemingly consistent position — “debts must be repaid.” But, the record is not quite so simple or consistent.
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