This book views the fall of the Iron Curtain and its significance from the perspective of Greece, which, in 1989, was alone among nations to be both in 'the European family' and tied to western structures but also a Balkan nation. In 1989, the borders hitherto separating Greek culture and society from its contiguous Balkan polities came down, and Greeks had to reorient themselves toward their immediate neighbors and redefine their place in Europe and in a new, more fluid world order. Projecting the political foresight and mustering the modernizing policies to succeed in such an undertaking would be no small feat. For Greece's relation with Balkans had been marked by conflict in the first half of the twentieth century and had lain dormant behind the Iron Curtain during the second half. Nor was this an end in itself, for it could not be pursued in isolation from the larger historical conjuncture. Since, for a prolonged 'historical moment, ' Greece and Europe were effectively held hostage to events in the Balkans; at a moment, ironically enough, when both intended to serve as the region's welcoming hosts.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, the borders hitherto separating Greek culture and society from its contiguous Balkan polities came down, and Greeks had to reorient themselves toward their immediate neighbors and redefine their place within Europe and the new, more fluid global order. Projecting the political foresight and mustering the modernization policies to succeed in such an undertaking turned out to be no small feat, especially as the regional conflicts that had lain dormant during the Cold War were revived. Synthesizing the cultural, political, and historical into a sophisticated, interdisciplinary analysis, this innovative study untangles the prolonged 'historical moment' in which Greece and Europe were effectively held hostage to events in the Balkans - just at the time when both hoped to serve as the region's welcoming hosts.