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http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee 250 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 9 / 2017 the armed forces is less than 7%. This issue comes on top of concerns for recruitment derived from the country’s dwindling demographic indicators.45 A dense network of think tanks as respected as Chatham House or the International Institute for Strategic Studies facilitates public debate on security issues among the British public. In fact, the operational deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have brought military issues at the forefront of public attention, forcing policy adjustments to accommodate public demands. On the years following the restoration of democracy in 1974, the Greek armed forces saw a profound transformation that de-politicized them and broadened the social base of the officer’s corps, until then restricted to accredited sympathizers of the regime.46 Today’s pattern is the result of incremental efforts made by successive governments to break the institutional isolation of the armed forces.47 Since 1974, the armed forces have adapted to democratic standards and have abstained from intervening in politics. Today, the military is perceived by the Greek public as one of the most appreciated and trusted –and least corrupt- institutions in the country, even ahead of the Orthodox Church.48 There is no hard evidence to prove it, but it seems plausible that the combination of this adaptation to democratic rule, and the perception of a threat coming from Turkey have contributed to this improvement in the public image of the armed forces. In spite of this high regard, or maybe because of it, public debate on security and defense issues is rather weak in Greece, where security issues rank low in the scale of public concerns.49 Consensus on the need to maintain a strong military regardless the cost is broad, and military issues are usually taken for granted and left out of the political debate.50 45  KIRKUP, James, “Threats to Army units failing to recruit ethnic minorities,” The Telegraph, June 07, 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/9317898/Threats-to-Army-units-failing-to- recruit-ethnic-minorities.html (accessed June 21, 2016). 46  KOLIOPOULOS, John S. and VEREMIS, Thanos. Greece. The Modern Sequel. (London: Hurst & Company, 2007), p. 168. 47  DOKOS, Thanos P., “The Evolution of Civil-Military Relations in South East Europe: The Case of Greece,” in The Evolution of Civil-Mlitary Relations in South East Europe. Continuing Democratic Reform and Adapting to the Needs of Fighting Terrorism, eds. FLURI, Philipp H., GUSTENEAU, Gustav E. and PANTEV, Plamen I. (Heidelberg: Physika Verlag, 2005), p. 138. 48  In fact, surveys suggest that the armed forces is the most appreciated institution among the Greek citizenship, ahead even of the Orthodox Church. See Public Issue, Greek Index of Confidence in Institutions (GICI), 2014. http://www.mavris.gr (acceded 07 April 2016). On the issue of corruption, see SOTIROPOULOS, Dimitri A. and KARAMAGIOLI, Evika, Greek Civil Society: The Long Road to Maturity (2005), (Athens: Access2democracy, 2006), p. 48. 49  European Commission, Public Opinion in the European Union. First Results. Standard Eurobarometer 83 (Brussels: Spring, 2015), p. 18. 50  DOKOS, “The Evolution of Civil-Military Relations”, p. 142.

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