One year ago, in the interests of world peace, I inquired into a world of tomorrow characterized by cooperation rather than competition; a world in which all sides are winners and there are no losers.*  Greece and the Balkans is one area of concern in this New World Order.

Greek national debt has become a test of the European Union's economic and political integrity.

ECONOMIC CRISIS

Is Greece on the verge of bankruptcy?  This is the immediate question.  All agree Greece must restructure its debt in order to remain solvent.

Greece has too much debt on it balance sheets and its prospects for economic growth are minimal.

Greece received a massive bailout just one year ago and is now seeking additional funding.**

The Greek government has imposed austerity measures as a condition receiving recent loans, resulting in civil unrest.  The dis-ease in the public reception of austerity does not appear as yet to threaten the current government's hold on power.

The government of Greece is determined to honor its legal contracts.

RESTRUCTURING DEBT

Officials have exhausted all options for restructuring debt.  Investors are skeptical:

The joint head of the world's biggest bond fund manager, Pimco, said restructuring Greece's sovereign debt was inevitable.

The firm's co-chief investment officer, Mohamed El-Erian, warned the nation's problems could "contaminate" Europe.

And leading investor George Soros, who reportedly made £1bn when the pound crashed out of the euro's forerunner, the ERM, said the world was on the brink of another disaster.

Mr Soros said it was almost inevitable that one or more eurozone country would exit the single currency.***

Restructuring borders may prove easier than restructuring debt.  The answer to Greek hegemony may be Macedonian hegemony. 

RESTRUCTURING BORDERS/MACEDONIAN HEGEMONY AN ALTERNATIVE

Is ceding territory in the interest of Greece's national and cultural integrity?

One option for an economically viable Greece is the reconstitution of a Greater Macedonia.  As illustrated by the map of ethnic Macedonia, the unification of the nation would require the considerable cooperation of the surrounding nations, particularly economically-strapped Greece.

The Republic of Macedonia is not a European Union member state****, so transferring Greek debt to this republic is equivalent to vacating the debt from the European Union book of debits.

Ceding Greek territory would require a referendum of the Greek people, as well as the agreement of the Republic of Macedonia to assume the legal debts of those therein.

The Greek province of Macedonia has a population of a little over 2.4 million people as of 2001.  Its capital is Thessaloniki.  The Republic of Macedonia has almost 2.1 million people; thus, the unification of the province with the republic would more than double the republic's population for a total of 4.5 million.

Greece has a current population of 10.76 million and would suffer a reduction of almost 2.4 million.

GREATER MACEDONIA

You can read about Greater Macedonia here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_(region)

The most famous son of Macedonia is Alexander the Great.

The development of Greater Macedonia would require a generation of education and investment, but the long-term prospects are promising.

CONCLUSION

The European Union as an economic and political entity must buy time in order to reform its system to weather storms such as that created by the current Greek crisis.

History and providence have dealt kindly by providing a way of escape in the merger of the two Macedonia.

______________________________

*"Carving Turkey (Part I)",

http://amberneve.newsvine.com/_news/2010/06/04/4463621-carving-turkey-part-i

**Greece received 110 billion euros from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.  A second rescue package could rival the first in size.

***http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13923735

****Macedonia is known by the European Union as the"former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM).  Wikipedia notes:

As of November 2010, further advances on accession [for admission to the European Union] are dependent on a resolution of a dispute over the name Macedonia with Greece.

--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eu