Greece's threat of suicide may be futile

London

THE good news is that a Greek default, which has become more likely after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's provocative rejection of what he described as the "absurd" bailout offer by Greece's creditors, no longer poses a serious threat to the rest of Europe. The bad news is that Mr Tsipras does not seem to understand this.

To judge by Mr Tsipras's belligerence, he firmly believes that Europe needs Greece as desperately as Greece needs Europe. This is the true "absurdity" in the present negotiations, and Mr Tsipras's misapprehension of his bargaining power now risks catastrophe for his country, humiliation for his Syriza party, or both.