Explaining historical identities through the values of the present can lead to misleading judgments. The Turkish terms Yunan and Rum, the name Hellene, and the English designation Greek are sometimes treated as interchangeable as a result of such judgments. Yet each of these words bears the traces of historical relationships that emerged during different periods in the Aegean, Anatolia, North Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean. In Modern Greek, a Greek calls himself Έλληνα

For decades, economics ruled the world stage. Markets dictated policy, and political choices were increasingly constrained by economic...