Humiliation of Greece underlines the dying dream of European union

Visiting Europe these past few days from euro-zone to non-euro-zone countries, talking to key players in The Establishment and ordinary people, I am reminded of lemmings running off the cliff in slow motion.

The worry is not merely Greece and the never-ending soap opera called "Grexit", but the slow suicide of the European ideal being committed by the tribes of small-minded politicians who claim to be Europe's leaders. The sad, savage irony is that the immediate drama is being played out over Greece, the cradle of modern democracy, in the tarnished name of democracy.

Who would have imagined a Greek tragedy of such tragic proportions with minor players in major roles?

Respected economists, including Nobel laureates, sympathised with the pain that Greece has endured since becoming effectively insolvent in 2010, including a failing economy, unemployment of 26 per cent, youth unemployment of 50 per cent and banks running out of cash.

Austerity is not the answer, the Nobel economists pleaded. Victory in January's elections by the radical Syriza party headed by the young photogenic Alexis Tsipras allowed the Greek government to claim that the people had joined the eminent protests against continued austerity.

It was surely hubris that deluded the inexperienced Greek leaders to try to strut across the European stage as if victory made them owners. Especially if Yanis Varoufakis, the cocky finance minister then, was correct and Germany was out to punish and break Greece, it would have been wiser to make allies to mitigate the damage. Instead, Varoufakis' arrogance antagonised other Europeans.