The causes of unrest

The scale of Greek unrest may seem shocking, but what’s really surprising is that it isn’t yet more common. Simon Wilson reports.

What's happening in Greece?

On the same day that the prime minister, George Papandreou, astonished Europe and reportedly his own finance minister with his referendum announcement, the opposition reacted with fury as Greece's defence minister replaced the four most senior figures in the national defence force. Whether a mere coincidence or not, this was interpreted as a bid to assert the state's control over the military amid rumours that a coup might be imminent as the state's credibility crumbles. Posters of generals have begun to appear on the streets of Athens a sign that some Greeks have had enough and see military rule as the only way of preventing mass disorder and social breakdown.

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Simon Wilson’s first career was in book publishing, as an economics editor at Routledge, and as a publisher of non-fiction at Random House, specialising in popular business and management books. While there, he published Customers.com, a bestselling classic of the early days of e-commerce, and The Money or Your Life: Reuniting Work and Joy, an inspirational book that helped inspire its publisher towards a post-corporate, portfolio life.   

Since 2001, he has been a writer for MoneyWeek, a financial copywriter, and a long-time contributing editor at The Week. Simon also works as an actor and corporate trainer; current and past clients include investment banks, the Bank of England, the UK government, several Magic Circle law firms and all of the Big Four accountancy firms. He has a degree in languages (German and Spanish) and social and political sciences from the University of Cambridge.