Sri Lanka, Feb. 12 -- In 2015, Yanis Varoufakis was appointed Finance Minister of Greece by socialist Premier, Alexis Tsipras. The Euro debt crisis crippled Greece six months later, giving the once popular Premier the stark choice of a painful IMF bailout or being forced to quit the EU and facing economic and diplomatic isolation.

An academic and Marxist by orientation, Varoufakis vehemently opposed the IMF route, insisting on finding a solution locally. Initially, Premier Tsipras backed him, but opposition was overwhelming and he was forced to back down and opt for IMF.

Varoufakis quit in protest. Unlike in Sri Lanka, he didn't join the opposition or try to exploit the vacuum for personal gain. A former academic who foresaw the banking...