The monthly interview: a conversation with Alexis Tsipras, the Greek opposition leader who could save, or blow up, the world economy.

• Author: Glastris, Paul
• Position: TEN MILES SQUARE - Interview

Two years ago, a barely recovering U.S. economy almost stopped growing entirely, due in large part to an economic crisis engulfing Europe. At the center of this crisis was the fear that a debt-ridden Greece, unable to borrow in the world financial markets, would abandon the euro and put the entire single-currency regime at risk. The crisis was averted, or at least postponed, after strong actions last year by the European Central Bank and a bailout package in which Greece agreed to another round of reforms and budget cuts. But those cuts have, predictably, only worsened the Greek economy. The country is entering its sixth year of recession. Its economic output has shrunk by more than 20 percent. Unemployment is at nearly 27 percent, the worst in the European Union. These conditions have given rise to some truly scary political developments in the country, from anarchist violence on the left to the rise of the openly fascist Golden Dawn party on the right.

If economic conditions don't improve, most observers believe that the current Greek government, led by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of the center-right New Democracy party in coalition with the socialist PASOK party, will fall. New elections will likely bring to power the major opposition party, the Coalition of the Radical Left, or SYRIZA, led by Alexis Tsipras, a young and charismatic ex-communist. Tsipras has vowed, if elected, to renegotiate the terms of the bailout deal. Such a move could either lessen Greece's monstrous debt burden and pave the way for growth or plunge the country, the continent, and perhaps the world economy back into crisis.

Tsipras was in Washington recently and sat down for an interview with Washington Monthly editor in chief Paul Glastris. Here is an edited version of that interview.

WM: What is your purpose in coming to the United States?

AT: We want to show that we have no horns on our head and are not out to destroy Europe. I represent the new generation of politicians that wishes to fight for social cohesion and to put Greece back on its feet.

WM: What can you say to the American people about how your policies might affect U.S. growth?

AT: What I want to explain to U.S. citizens is that Greece and citizens of Greece have become in the last few years a kind of guinea pig on which violent and ineffective political choices were used. These policies have borne no fruit and after a certain point they have wrecked Greece and are now threatening to destabilize...