Postwar Cyprus has been for long contextualised in the framework of Euro-Atlantic Cold War spaces of diplomacy. The historiography around the Cyprus question has meticulously observed the British, Greek and Turkish geostrategic interests in the island, studying diverse technologies for foreign
intervention, the emergence of anti-colonial movements, and how foreign powers shaped and influenced the development of ethno-national conflict, as well as the UN role in the search for a compromise between the Greekspeaking and Turkish-speaking communities in Cyprus.
However, many aspects of Cyprus’ international connections have remained unexplored. Even before the founding of the Republic of Cyprus in August 1960, the Cypriot Ethnarchy built independent diplomatic networks that expanded the bipolar front, to encompass the Third World and the Non- Aligned Movement. At the same time, diverse political forces from the left and from the right of the political spectrum relied on their political connections abroad to buttress their actions at home. All of this made
Cyprus an important piece and actor in the Global Cold War, with inevitable consequences in how the Cyprus question evolved over time. Yet these global connections, involving a plurality of geographies and a broad diversity of actors, have remained so far significantly uncharted.

This workshop aims to make a contribution to our understanding of such connections. It seeks to join scholars dealing with diverse aspects of Cyprus’ position in the global environment of the Cold War, especially stressing entanglements that challenged East-West divisions and non-aligned connections and using Cyprus as a vantage to study global flows of people, ideas, images, and objects. Case studies may focus on di\erent facets of connections (political, economic, cultural, military, educational, philanthropic/humanitarian). What does the case of Cyprus tell about the mingling of the two established Cold War fronts with the diplomacy of decolonization, the evolution of the NAM, and the involvement of the country in diverse ventures of nation-building, economic planning and ongoing liberation movements? Is Cyprus a unique case because of the religious identity of the outreach of Ethnarchic ‘soft power’ through the Orthodox Church? Which impact did Cypriot individuals and organizations exert in Global Cold War diplomacy? We welcome propositions that are
related, but not limited, to the following themes:

• Orthodox Church political power in Third World Countries and the NAM after 1945- Cyprus’ relationship with the NAM and non-aligned countries
• Cyprus’ relationship with and beyond the USSR
• Cyprus and Global Cold War politics in the cadre of the United Nations
• Turns in the diplomacy of the Republic of Cyprus after the 1974 war
• The Republic of Cyprus upon the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
• Cyprus’ position in networks for the exchange of scientific and academic expertise, in cultural cooperation, and in international programs for economic development

If interested, please send an abstract of max. 300 words and a short CV by September 15, 2024 to Agustin Cosovschi & Kalliopi Geronymaki.

The conference will be held at the École Française d’Athènes (EFA) on December 3, 2024. Limited funding is available upon request to support travel expenses. A limited number of participants will also be able to stay at the EFA’s housing facilities with expenses covered by the organizers. The organizers will be in touch about the results by October 15, 2024.

Organization: Agustin Cosovschi (École Française d’Athènes), Kalliopi Geronymaki (University of Florence).