What is the element that would add value to a retrospective historical engagement with Greece and its foreign policy during the period 1928-32? After all, Greece was then, as it is now, a small country whose external behavior had an insignificant impact on the international system, its protagonists, and its main problems.

It is the following series of reasons, in our opinion, that makes the study of Greece's foreign relations interesting. The first is its geopolitical position. Greece is part of a system of states that includes five neighboring nations of comparable size and power. If the Italian states of the Renaissance and the European scene of the 18th and 19th centuries are the typical examples, the Balkans of the interwar period are the closest possible approach to the "classic" balance of power. All the protagonists had to constantly monitor each other and adjust their policies to the movements of the others. The peoples of the Balkans, apart from being rational competitors with specific interests, were also heirs to long historical traditions. This explains the hostility and prejudices of one against the other, which had marked the memory of the peoples. Thus, in determining their foreign policy, they had to take into account emotional variables as well. Consequently, the Balkan framework gives us the opportunity to examine not only the dynamic interactions within a given system but also the influence exerted on it by the survival of old feelings and views. [...]

(from the introduction of the book)