With the elections of July 7, 2019, a nearly decade-long political cycle that was identified with the economic crisis came to a close, as well as a dramatic five-year period of upheavals, tensions, and intense political time.
The history of the period 2014-2019 was largely defined by the way in which its protagonists handled the major strategic dilemmas they faced. Politics itself, moreover, constitutes - among other things - the process of resolving serious collective dilemmas.
This study focuses on some of the strategic milestones of the period 2014-2019, the handling of which was crucial for the electoral outcome of this political cycle. It examines the almost law-like rise of SYRIZA in government and how its initial critical decisions shaped the framework of the entire subsequent four-year period; but also the dilemmas it had to manage at the end of this journey, when it attempted to reverse the established facts. It also analyzes the pivotal choices of New Democracy that allowed it to make another electoral comeback precisely because it responded correctly to the strategic dilemmas it faced.
Through the chronology of the five-year period 2014-2019, the transition from a political cycle full of tensions, event density, disputes, and denials is described, to a new political period, more pragmatic, with different premises, de facto convergences, and increased institutional legitimacy.
The aim is to highlight a timeless political lesson: the superiority of strategy over tactics, methodicalness over improvisation, realism over opportunism. A useful observation for anyone in a position of responsibility and for anyone studying politics.
