Greece will need a new generation of Greek-American leaders who can keep the American diaspora vibrant and strengthen its political influence in the years ahead. The importance of this challenge has become clear once again in recent weeks. A country like Greece cannot rely on the influence of other lobbies simply because their interests happen to align with its own at a given moment. Such alliances are useful, even essential, but they are not enough and they carry risks.
For decades, Athens effectively left the leadership of the Greek-American community to the Church. Two strong and influential figures, Athinagoras and Iakovos, represented Hellenism at the White House and other centers of power with remarkable skill and, to a large extent, almost single-handedly. Since then, however, the landscape has changed. Mixed marriages and the community’s social evolution have transformed its character. As important as the Church’s role remains in preserving Greek identity, trends in marriages and baptisms reveal the direction in which the community is moving.
The current archbishop is a charismatic figure and a capable diplomat, but the environment is very different. Many of the experienced figures who knew how to navigate the corridors of power from the 1970s onward have grown older. Greece needs more young, dynamic Greek-Americans – like those involved in the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), the National Hellenic Society and other organizations – to step forward and assume leadership roles.
