Getting others to understand us

We Greeks tend to believe that just because we know we're right about something, everyone else should as well. But it is a big world we're living in, with dozens of disputes and problems. What happens in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean is important to us, but not necessarily to anyone else beyond a group of politicians, diplomats and experts. And even for them, it is a complex, if not complicated issue.

I remember being with a Greek diplomat and trying to explain the name dispute with Skopje to a foreign official. We entered the discussion believing that he was fully cognizant of the issue and its sensitive diplomatic aspect. He turned around at one point and said: "Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying. Can you explain the issue from the beginning?" "From which beginning?" we asked. "Maybe from Alexander the Great," he responded.

No matter how rich our...