WASHINGTON — Greece got the rescue. But it’s the rest of Europe that’s breathing easier.

A $172 billion bailout isn’t likely to keep Greece from eventually defaulting on its debts and abandoning the euro, many economists say.

The sad truth about the bailout is that it mostly just buys time. The breather allows European governments and banks to strengthen their financial defenses, leaving them less vulnerable if Greece cracks up a few months or even a few years from now.

The bailout — plus an agreement endorsed Thursday by most private lenders to reduce Greece’s debts — “does more to protect Europe from Greece than for Greece itself,” says Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

A similar approach worked a decade ago. When Argentina ran into trouble in 2002, stopgap bailouts gave financial markets time to prepare for an almost-inevitable default.

Without its bailout, Greece would have missed a March 20 bond payment and plunged into chaos, perhaps taking Europe’s financial system with it. It was the second time Greece had to be rescued. It got an initial $146 billion bailout in 2010.