Ironically, what the civilized protests of mainstream parties in peripheral Europe failed to achieve – a relaxation of the dogma of austerity – might come about as a result of the politics of brinkmanship proposed by the Greek radical left. By its blatant rebellion against German-dictated austerity, and by making Greek withdrawal from the euro a credible possibility, Syriza is bringing closer than ever the euro’s chaotic collapse in Europe’s periphery, if not beyond.