The new era of polycrisis? Small states, International Relations, and Greek Foreign Policy

The concepts of permacrisis and polycrisis describe a world of overlapping instability but are rooted in the long-standing centrality of crisis in International Relations, from The Twenty Years’ Crisis to Cold War nuclear brinkmanship.

This paper argues that permacrisis is not an exceptional systemic condition but, for small states, a condition of normality. Using Greece as a case study, it examines how systemic crises—from bipolarity to post-Ukraine European security shifts and Middle Eastern conflict—intersect with enduring local disputes in the Aegean, Cyprus, and the Eastern Mediterranean. The analysis shows that small-state foreign policy is shaped by permanent crisis, with limited but meaningful agency within structural constraints.

Meet our speaker and chair

Alexandros Zachariades is a Research Associate, “Disappearing Act(DISACT)” at the University of Cyprus and Research Associate at the Hellenic Observatory, LSE.

Professor Vassilis Monastiriotis is Director of the LSE Centre for Research on Contemporary Greece and Cyprus - Hellenic Observatory, Professor in Political Economy and Eleftherios Venizelos Chair of Contemporary Greek Studies at the European Institute, LSE.

The Hellenic Observatory (@HO_LSE) is internationally recognised as one of the premier research centres on contemporary Greece and Cyprus. It engages in a range of activities, including developing and supporting academic and policy-related research; organisation of conferences, seminars and workshops; academic exchange through visiting fellowships and internships; as well as teaching at the graduate level through LSE's European Institute.

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LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.