The thing I've always had in the back of my mind regarding Greece's current woes, is that, despite being the cradle of democracy, the parthenon, the diaspora etc... they're just a short boat trip away from Northern Africa. And beyond that, just subsistence Africa, the Sahara etc. They may have the trappings of a "Euro" country at the moment... but things could quite concievably get way worse for them and a lot closer to their neighbours than it's easy to imagine.
And the US is right next door to Mexico and South and North Korea are, well, you get the point. Geographical proximity is not an accurate economic indicator. Also, Africa is not some homogenous blob of poverty.
