EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: Reflection on Cyprus and the EU

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Reflection on Cyprus and the EU

After visiting Cyprus, I am amazed at how Americanized it is. Besides Athens, it was the first place I saw fast places, such as Burger King, McDonalds, etc. Many of the signs and advertisements were also in English. This surprised me because Cyprus and the US do not really have any ties to the US yet they have so many US restaurants.

The discussion we had in class today shed a great light on the Cyprus/EU issue. By checking passports from Crete, it is hinting at an internal issue and distrust with the people. The entrance of migrants through Turkey is causing heightened security through EU member states or those bordering said states.

This unrest is also evident in the graffiti that could be seen around the city of Nicosia. Many mentioned Syrian refugees and fascists. There was also a play on the "keep calm and carry on" that said "don't tell me to keep calm". This tension continues from the 1970s. Yet what has changed is that the youth is not as engaged as the previous generations had been. This has been sending Cyprus into an unknown territory.

No comments:

Post a Comment

EC Eastern Security Studies Program

In the summer of 2011, as the "Arab Spring" was unfolding and the "Eurozone Crisis" was entering its second year, the Emmanuel College Eastern Mediterranean Security Studies Program was established in Crete, as a way to make the location the classroom. Beyond the grand theoretical, historical and political understanding that can be achieved through reading and classroom discussion and exchange, a more immediate, intimate and truer appreciation of the complexities can only achieved by experiencing the cultures, languages of personal interaction.

Since 2012 students have been able to combine an intensive curricular study, with the experience of immersion and living in a local setting. The geopolitical and geoeconomic forces that have acted in the region for centuries, can be identified in the classroom, but they can only be understood by being there. This year's EC EMSS Program will add a fourth week of study, experience and exploration and will also travel to the islands of Rhodes, and Cyprus. In Rhodes we will be partnering with the Prefecture of Southern Aegean and the Aegean University, while in Cyprus we will be hosted by the University of Nicosia.