Greek defense doctrine rolls with punches

A lot has changed in terms of Greece's defense doctrine since 1996, when its naval forces and Turkey's had gathered around the two islets of Imia in the eastern Aegean.

The concept that the incident gave birth to was the so-called crisis point doctrine, meaning that a conflict between the two countries would be limited to a certain geographic spot. However, this has now given way to the triptych of "tension/crisis/generalized conflict."

In short, at the highest staff level, it is now considered that a crisis with Turkey will not remain confined to a certain geographical point (island, islet, rock), but will spread across the entire front of the Greek-Turkish borderline, from Evros to Kastellorizo.

For almost two decades, the crisis point concept has been based on two main assumptions: firstly on an immediate reaction by the US and secondly Ankara's intention to...