Many observers are wondering how the left-populist renegades of Greece's Syriza party, which rose to power in January on the promise of delivering relief from austerity and renewed its mandate with a massive victory in the July 5 referendum, managed to negotiate a bailout deal on Monday that is substantially worse than what was available to Greece before Syriza took office.

The answer is surprisingly simple. Syriza forewent its only potential leverage over Greece’s creditors: the willingness to go through with a “Grexit,” or a Greek exit from the eurozone. Greece was not prepared to shoot the proverbial hostage in negotiations with Germany and the other eurozone nations. In fact, the Greek government was not even ready for the possibility of a Grexit if it was forced on them.

Read more from the HuffingtonPost.com [HERE].