Greece’s New Geopolitical Environment
The geopolitical landscape of Greece has changed considerably in the past few years given not only the various geographical challenges but the emergence of a number of ‘functional’ ones as well. According to the author, Greece’s geopolitical landscape is now much wider as a result of Greece’s continued Europeanisation and the effect of globalisation. These include questions of equity and reform, concerns over terrorism and ‘homeland defence’ as well as the need for multilateral responses to global challenges. Although the verdict is still out as to whether Greece can adapt to its changing environment, the author speculates on some ‘wild cards’ that could affect the country’s geopolitical scene profoundly.
Greece and Turkey
Over recent years, relations between Greece and Turkey have improved in comparison to previous decades. While lingering distrust from their many years of rivalry continues, and disputes over important strategic and economic areas of the Aegean Sea remain, the future of relations between these two states looks comparatively bright in contrast to their often contentious past. In 1999, major earthquakes in both countries resulted in quick responses of aid from the other, setting off a series of goodwill gestures that became known as “seismic detente.” A poll taken less than a year later revealed that two out of three Greeks held “friendly and positive sentiments” toward the Turkish people (Purvis 2000). Athens dropped its objection to Turkish candidacy to the European Union in 1999, and has only increased its support of Turkey’s membership over the past half decade. How is it possible for such long time adversaries to turn the corner in their relations so quickly, and is it possible for this interstate rivalry to fade away once and for all? This chapter addresses both these question by examining the nature of past Greco-Turkish disputes through the framework of the theories presented thus far in this work.
Archaeological Survey of Dangoyama Kofun by 3DGPR
We presented a three-dimensional ground penetrating radar (3DGPR) system for the archeological investigation in a harsh site, where we have to deal with many trees and/or great topographic variations. This system consists of a commercial GPR system with a laser positioning system. With this system, we can move the GPR antenna freely, on which a positioning detector can record accurate position for each GPR data trace. We applied our 3DGPR system at Dangoyama Kofun, a burial mound, in Fukushima prefecture, Japan. A lot of trees and bushes covered the survey area and cannot be cut. We acquired six datasets in two days in this area. We successfully imaged the boundary between the original surface of the burial mound and the covering soil clearly at about 0.3 m depth around the mound. Furthermore, we found some strong reflections appeared at 0.8 m depth in the top area of the mound, which can be from the artificial parts of the burial mound. The results would greatly aid the following archaeological excavation. In addition, we compared the non-interpolated depth slice with interpolated depth slice at same position and demonstrated that the interpolation process on threedimensional GPR data may introduce some artifacts which might mislead our interpretation.