Petras continues his cynical outlook on Greece's left governing party with this essay (see a previous article). Given his experience with past Greek governments, one needs to take his views seriously. He functioned as a consultant to former Greek prime minister, Andreas Papandreou, who was a Harvard-trained academic.
Early on, the Syriza leadership, headed by Alexis Tsipras, adopted several strategic positions with fatal consequences – in terms of implementing their electoral promises to raise living standards, end vassalage to the ‘Troika’ and pursue an independent foreign policy.
We will proceed by outlining the initial systemic failures of Syriza and the subsequent concessions further eroding Greek living standards and deepening Greece’s role as an active collaborator of US and Israeli imperialism.