The struggle for global power no longer happens only on land, in the air, or across contested waters. Today, it unfolds in invisible spaces: the networks pulsing with data, the cables stretched across the seabed, and the algorithms shaping economies, democracies, and security. To the surprise of many still viewing the world through an outdated geopolitical lens, Greece has emerged as a critical player in this new digital landscape.

For decades, Greece’s value was measured by geography: a NATO anchor on Europe’s southeastern flank, a gateway between continents, a frontline state in a turbulent region. Today, geography is being rewritten by technology. Where land and sea once defined influence, the new frontier lies in the digital networks beneath the oceans and the algorithms shaping global commerce and security. Greece is no longer just at the crossroads of continents — it is becoming a literal connector of the global digital economy.

Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has recognized the moment. “We have a very, I think, well thought out strategy regarding our presence in this evolving AI global ecosystem,” he recently said at a meeting with Arthur Mensch, co-founder and CEO of Mistral AI, signaling Athens’ ambition to transform the country from a regional player into a European leader in artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. Greece’s challenge now is to convert this ambition into strategic action.

Beneath the surface of the Mediterranean and Aegean, the arteries of the 21st-century world are being laid. Subsea cables — thin, vulnerable, astonishingly powerful — carry nearly all international data, and increasingly, they are converging on Greek territory. Crete, once seen mainly as a tourist haven or naval outpost, is now one of Europe’s most important digital junctions.

In recent months, three major global cable systems have chosen Greek shores as landing points. The India–Europe Xpress, linking Mumbai directly to Europe, surfaces in Crete, altering the balance of connectivity between Asia and the West. The mammoth 2Africa cable, among the largest ever constructed, has also anchored on Greek soil. Meanwhile, the East-to-Med Data Corridor is designing an entirely new digital passage routing Asia’s data through Greece and Saudi Arabia, intentionally avoiding unstable or congested zones in North Africa.

After decades of aspirations, Greece is no longer talking about becoming a regional hub — it is unmistakably one. Not in shipping or energy, but in the single most valuable resource of the modern era: data. Where data flows, influence follows. And increasingly, that flow runs through Greece.

This is not an abstract advantage. By hosting critical subsea cables, Greece becomes a gatekeeper of communications, commerce, and security across continents. It gains leverage in European digital strategy, influence in global standards-setting, and a stronger position in a neighborhood that is anything but simple.

That neighborhood includes Turkey, whose relationship with Greece remains fraught and unpredictable. For decades, Athens focused on balancing conventional military capabilities and diplomatic alliances to manage tensions in the Aegean. Today, national security extends into new domains: cyber operations, digital espionage, infrastructure targeting, and information warfare. Subsea cables are simultaneously an opportunity and a vulnerability. Safeguarding them — and ensuring Europe’s data routes do not depend on unstable or hostile regions — is now central to national security.

Digital resilience has become a form of deterrence. A nation that controls key data pathways wields influence; a nation whose communications can be disrupted at a single chokepoint invites pressure. Yet here lies a contradiction at the heart of Greece’s digital rise: despite emerging as a continental connector and a growing AI hub, the country lacks a coherent international internet and AI governance strategy — no national doctrine, no institutional roadmap, no diplomatic playbook aligning its digital weight with foreign policy.

This gap has real consequences. Without a clear strategy, Greece cannot fully convert its infrastructural leverage into diplomatic influence. It cannot reliably shape the rules governing the cables landing on its shores or the data passing through its waters. And it risks ceding leadership to smaller European states that have mastered consistent engagement in global tech governance. In short, Greece possesses the hardware of a digital power but not yet the geopolitical software to match it — and that gap must close fast.

Above the seabed, Greece is quietly ascending in AI. National AI initiatives, high-profile research centers, and a growing ecosystem of startups have pushed Greece into the European AI conversation not as a peripheral observer, but as a credible participant. Brussels now sees Greece as a voice worth hearing, particularly as Europe searches for a model that balances innovation with democratic safeguards.

This is Greece’s chance to define global rules, not follow them. Nations with advanced AI capacity shape industries, defense ecosystems, and governance models. Greece’s emerging AI ecosystem can give it influence over how the next generation of technologies will operate — but only if domestic progress is paired with an international strategy.

Without a coherent digital foreign policy, even these AI advantages risk under-leveraging. The country cannot afford to build influence at home while forfeiting influence abroad. Hosting global data arteries and nurturing AI talent creates a rare convergence of opportunity: Greece can shape both the flows of information and the frameworks governing digital technology for decades. The question is whether it will act or leave others to draw the map.

The world’s power map is being redrawn not only with borders, but with cables, clouds, and code. Greece is positioned to hold the pen. Its shores are landing points for global communications. Its startups are shaping Europe’s AI future. Its strategic location bridges continents and data networks alike. Yet power unused is power squandered.

The moment has arrived for Greece to step forward, not only as a digital hub, but as a digital leader. A clear, assertive, and comprehensive global digital policy is no longer optional — it is an imperative. Greece can ensure that Europe’s digital arteries run securely through friendly territory, that AI innovation aligns with democratic values, and that the country translates infrastructure into influence.

This is Greece’s opportunity to lead in a domain where the rules of power are still being written. Its infrastructure is in place. Its regional role is expanding. Its AI sector is rising. Its geopolitical stakes are higher than ever. The only remaining element is strategic vision: the software to complement its hardware. The question is clear: will Greece rise to the challenge, or will others write the rules of the digital age in its place?