Playing with fire

The emerging crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean over Turkey's drilling activities in Cyprus' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) raise the prospect of an open Greco-Turkish conflict to a level higher than anytime since the Imia crisis. Despite a very different international context - American relations with Greece and Cyprus are improving, relations with Turkey are deteriorating - the US government doesn't appear able to prevent the crisis. It may be even be making things worse.
At this year's Conference of the International Coordinating Committee "Justice for Cyprus" (better known as the PSEKA Conference) two weeks ago, Yuri Kim, the director of the State Department's Office of Southern European Affairs, declared that "it behooves us [the United States] to take extraordinary measures to prevent conflict between Greece and Turkey."

Kim's admonition seems self-evident. It is...