Realism and Human Rights in US Policy toward Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus

America’s Cold War strategists responded to Moscow’s perceived aggression with hard power and global alliances while also advocating loftier goals such as democratic values and human rights. In his impressively researched, balanced and persuasive study Rizas examines Washington’s policy priorities toward Greece and Turkey as they fluctuated between realpolitik and liberalizing principles. Plagued by domestic instability and divided by age-old hatreds and conflicts over the Aegean and Cyprus, Athens and Ankara resisted prodding to democratize their regimes. In turn, Washington concentrated on power politics and security issues while seeking to preserve NATO’s atrophic Balkan front. -- John O. Iatrides, Southern Connecticut State University
I strongly endorse Sotiris Rizas' latest book. He has a wonderful ability to view events objectively, with total respect for the variety of available sources. He is at the peak of his career and I feel fortunate to have been reading his works over the years. -- Theodore Couloumbis, professor emeritus, University of Athens