The Media and Foreign Policy: The Case of Greece

Περίληψη

This article examines when and how the media in Greece can influence the foreign policymaking process. It applies Robinson's policy media interaction model in order to specify the conditions under which the media may play a limited or significant role in foreign policy. In so doing, it examines the Greek-Turkish oil-drilling crisis (1987), the Imia crisis (1996), the Helsinki Summit (1999), the war in Kosovo (1999) and the Macedonian issue. The following key questions are asked: How and why the decisionmaking process and political culture of Greece allow the media to dominate the public sphere on “national issues”, crises and problems with neighbors? How do the media understand and mediate the meaning of action in foreign policy? How do the media determine and construct national, European and international issues?