Polydefkis Papadopoulos
Biography
Polydefkis Papadopoulos is a journalist/sociologist specializing in European issues and the functions of the media in relation to international news.
He studied Political Science at the Panteion University of Athens and did postgraduate studies in media theory, sociology and politics in France.
He was correspondent for the newspapers TA NEA and TO VIMA in Paris and Brussels. Afterwards, he became editor of European Affairs at the Kathimerini newspaper.
He has been a press and communications advisor to the European commission and the European parliament, to the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, to the Ministry for the Environment and to the Ministry of Education.
He works as a journalist at ERA-MULTIMEDIA/ERT (Greek Public Radio, Television and Internet) with responsibility for European and International Affairs.
He wrote the study ‘The youth and the use of Internet in Greece’ (Publication of IOM-Kastantiotis 2008), and was writer/editor of the EU Commission’s publication: ‘1976-2016 – The 40 years history of the Representation of European Commission in Greece’.
He co-edited the anniversary album ‘1968-2008: television and radio – 40 years of Radio and Television history’ (ERT publication).
He chairs the Greek Section of the UPF (International Francophone Press Union).
Talk Details
The failure to create an international security system after the cold war, the conflict in Ukraine and the alternatives to a plunge into a new epoch of cold war
The end of the Cold War created realistic hopes, but also the objective conditions, for the creation of a balanced system of international security, with reduced competition, sufficient transparency, developed cooperation and limited military hardware.
However, this potential was not exploited during the 90s – early 2000s, especially in Europe, mainly through the fault of the victorious and more sophisticated West.
Since 2007-2008, rivalries, suspicion and the desire to simply increase the power and influence of both parties have clearly returned.
Ultimately, the war in Ukraine is one of the outcomes of a long process of failed, but fundamentally misguided, ambitions over the preceding 30 years.
However, in the face of today’s reality of human tragedies, massive material disasters and a multifaceted crisis spreading internationally, the answer is not even tougher confrontation, threats, entrenchment for decades with burdensome defense spending and finally an almost certain abandonment of the green transition.
Even in these conditions of fierce polarization, there remains the opportunity and need for the birth of an inclusive and non-confrontational security system in Europe and a regulated multipolar world.