EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: A Day at the Base

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

A Day at the Base

It’s been quite a day, we’ve been driving around Chania and taking tours of various military bases and speaking with personal about the strategic position of Crete. The first base we visited was the United States support base at Cape Souda. The facility was surprisingly small considering the work that the men and woman put in on a daily basis. Cape Souda acts as a jumping off point for many US operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. When we arrived we were ushered into a command center where we were given a presentation on the history and purpose of NSA Souda Bay. Considering the small size (we managed to drive through the whole complex within 20 minutes) it was no surprise that personal at the base always were deployed solo, without family. Crete is extremely strategic for the United States due to its proximity to the Middle East and Turkey. The other two bases we visited were NATO bases, with my favorite being the missile launch site. The amount of trust between the Greek government and these international actors shows how geopolitically important Greece is as the crossroad between east and west. We ended the day at the beach and having drinks. Couldn’t have asked for a cooler experience for our penultimate day on the island.

Matt

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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.