Reclaiming influence

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is due to travel to the United States on October 17 for a visit where he will probably see for himself how much the Greek diaspora's influence in Washington has waned.

The Greek-American lobby was in its prime back when the name dispute with Skopje was at the forefront. It was so powerful that it managed to convince then president George Bush and his mighty secretary of state, James Baker, to change position on the recognition of former Yugoslav republics.

This was the time of Archbishop Iakovos and Father Alexander Karloutsos, who were frequent visitors to the White House and managed to combine the wisdom of Halki with the savvy marketing of Madison Avenue. This period also saw the emergence of new players, like Angelo Tsakopoulos, who joined forces with officials produced by the Michael Dukakis campaign.

The Church's presence...