A Greek American PR Campaign

The Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, has met with US President Barack Obama at the White House, in an effort to communicate the Greek Plan for economic and financial reform. Some political commentators in Greece have dubbed most of his recent meetings with European and world leaders as communications exercises that offer no tangible results, for the benefit of the Greek economy. Although that may be the case with some examples, the recent trip of the PM to the States has shown that a good public relation campaign from the Greek side can create tangible results in terms of Global politics and positive International Press coverage. During the recent trip of the Greek PM to the States, he gave a speech at the Brookings Institution, had an Op-Ed article in the New York Times, and gave an interview to BBC World. Kudos for an excellent PR work. Also, good news on Greece's Designation as a Member of the Visa Waiver Program.

How all this translates into results for the citizens of Greece remains to be seen. You can read through my recent comments on Greek current affairs and the politics of the new economic austerity measures, in my previous articles: The Greek financial sodoku and Short-Selling the Greek Euro. Greek domestic politics have been known to be messy and disorganized in terms of getting legislation through parliament and actually implementing policies on the ground.

You can also watch a video with President Obama, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, and His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America who speak at a reception celebrating Greek Independence Day at the White House.