European Politics Seminar & The Center for Hellenic Studies — Greek Prime Ministers In the Eye of the Storm – Managing the Greek Economic Crisis and Leading Change (2010-2018)
Adolphus Busch Hall at Cabot Way
27 Kirkland St.
Cambridge
Thu., Apr. 9, 2026, 4 – 5:15 p.m. 
When and how do crises lead governments to centralize decision-making? Join us for a discussion with Dimitris Papadimitriou about the book Greek Prime Ministers in the Eye of the Storm (Oxford University Press, 2025) which examines how successive Greek prime ministers organized and deployed Crisis Response Networks (CRNs) between 2010 and 2018 to manage negotiations with international creditors and coordinate the domestic implementation of bailout conditionality. Drawing on multiple strands of literature and interviews — including Greece's four prime ministers who governed during the crisis — Papadimitriou will analyze the evolving interaction between prime ministerial agency and key governmental actors across different phases of the crisis.
Papadimitriou will also assess the extent to which the “bailout years” reconfigured established patterns of executive coordination and decision-making within the Greek state. More broadly, this discussion will contribute to ongoing debates on executive empowerment, crisis governance, and the political consequences of emergency politics in Europe, with comparative implications for the United States and the Middle East.
Gazette Classification: Special Events
Organization/Sponsor: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies; Center for Hellenic Studies
Speaker(s): Dimitris Papadimitriou, Professor of Political Science; Director of the the Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, University of Manchester; Vice-Dean for Social Responsibility and Inclusion and Professor of Political Science, University of Manchester, Chair Elizabeth Linos, Emma Bloomberg Associate Professor of Public Policy and Management; Faculty Director of The People Lab, Harvard Kennedy School
Contact Info: [email protected]
Harvard Key Required: No
More info: ces.fas.harvard.edu…