Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras defended a bailout deal struck at a euro zone summit, saying that although it had been "a bad night for Europe" and "imposed" on Greece, the agreement saved it from exiting the euro and must be implemented.

By Dr Nikolaos Georgikopoulos - Visiting Research Professor at NYU (Stern School of Business).

Since Syriza's ascent to power 5 months ago, I felt –and hoped- that the negotiations for Greece's Bailout program would hit the wall at the end of its current extension. Whether it was part of well thought out plan or the result of incompetency, it didn't matter. It just had to happen, as indeed it did.