31/12/2015
Mauro Lucentini
Two areas in the Middle East policy of the Obama administration are rarely commented upon by the official sources. They are the negative criticism that usually meets the Russian initiatives in
the region and the lack of any reaction by Washington to the total abandonment by the Israeli Government of the peace process with the Palestinians. How to explain the American reticence? And is there any connection between the two questions? In the absence of explanations, only unproven theories exist. The most plausible is that the American administration prefers to ignore the two delicate areas because it has embarked on an extremely difficult and delicate policy that impinges on the effort of a rapprochement with Iran, which could have a revolutionary effect in the area and is opposed by a large section of the US political spectrum and by main regional allies of United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Other theories are discussed in the extreme fringes of American opinion. An example is a recent book which traces back to the American intervention in the first World War the origins of a basic hostility between a “globalist” faction in the United States, bent on establishing an American egemony on the entire planet and supported principally by Israeli-American sionist groups, and Russia, often in alliance with China. An important question is whether the present Obama policy will survive this year’s presidential elections.
Pietro Calamia
The Author, Personal Representative (Sherpa) of the Italian Prime Minister in 1994, recalls the preparation of and the discussion at the Naples Summit (July 8th-10th). He underlines the two fundamental changes brought in at Naples: the inclusion of Russia in the political part of the Summit and the meetings’ format – only Heads of State or Government. To better evaluate the meaning of the inclusion of Russia, the Author recalls that the Summit was
born in 1975 at Ramboullet as “economic”. Russian participation automatically increased the political weight of the Summit conclusions. The Author recalls also the elections in Italy in March 1994, which brought in a majority change in Parliament. From the Ciampi to the Berlusconi Government, however, there was no change in the political line of the Italian Presidency for the Summit.
Tatiana Zonova
The article gives evidence of the historical evolution of the Russian foreign policy aimed at assuring Russian presence in the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Such policy in its continues flow presents successive periods: initiated in the Middle Ages, brought forward by the Russian emperors and then by the Soviet leaders. Recently Russia adopted a new version of Maritime doctrine, which highlights the necessity of a constant military and political Russian presence in the World Ocean.
Giorgio Franchetti Pardo
April 24 is a normal day in Lisbon. Diplomats comment on a so-called “Captains’ Manifest”circulated a few months earlier, on the Spinola book and on the strange March 23 aborted military blitz from Caldas da Rainha. An unusually heavy traffic is noted at late evening hours in the city. April 25 at early morning the military revolution is a reality. The news is given by radio also by transmitting the code-signal music Grandola vila morena. Tanks and armored cars are on the streets but there are no clashes. Demonstrations are visible only later in the day. The Government
and the President of the Republic are under military control. Only very late in the day the newly formed Military Junta presided by Gen. Spinola appears on the tv-screen. Short notes on the
political developments: the sudden illness and later death of Salazar shakes the Country. He had directed for about 40 years. His successor, professor Marcelo Caetano, regarded as a moderate
conservative, gives hopes for future developments and especially for the ongoing wars in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea. The publication of a book favoring a political instead of a military
solution of those wars, supposedly written by the demoted Governor of Guinea, Gen. Spinola, was commented on as unveiling existing contrasts even between a group of young officers and the
reactionary Minister for the Overseas.
Fabio Caffio
The situation of the maritime spaces of the Mediterranean is moving towards a progressive regionalization: the creation of zones of national jurisdiction such as the EEZ have brought to the
reduction of the areas of the high seas, thus requiring riparian States to cooperate each other in exercising their rights. But the cooperation in a semi-enclosed sea such as the Mediterranean
implies defined maritime borders. Accordingly it needs that the riparian States agree the delimitation of their EEZ and underlying continental shelfs. The article examines the practice of the maritime delimitations in the light of the relevant doctrine based on the UNCLOS.
Rodolfo Bastianelli
This essay analyses the history of Alsace and Lorraine from their annexation to the German Empire in 1870 to the second world war. The Author starts describing the new administrative system implemented there by the German Goverment and the relations existing between the local population and the German authorities when Alsace and Lorraine were part of the German Empire. Then he focuses on the situation in the two provinces after their return to France and the skepticism expressed by the local population toward the new administrative organization and the laws introduced by French officials after 1918. Finally, among the dramatic events which happened in Alsace during the Nazi occupation, he remembers the history of the so-called “malgré-nous”, the Alsatian recruits enlisted against their will in German Army or in the Nazi Militia of SS, and the debate about their effective role during Nazi occupation which arose in France in the post-war years.
Giorgio Bosco
The novel I Promessi Sposi by Alessandro Manzoni is one of the masterpieces of Italian literature. In this article the Author puts into light that the book contains interesting remarks concerning
politics, law and economy. In the field of politics Manzoni, on the basis not only of studies but also of personal experiences, makes a subtle analysis of the reactions and of the psychology of the crowd during popular disturbances. The juridical remarks are generally inspired to skepticism: a fervent catholic, Manzoni had little trust in human justice, preferring the justice of God. In various parts of the book this choice is founded on the relativity of law: “Knowing well how to use the rules, nobody is guilty and nobody is innocent”. Lastly, in the economic field, inspired by the current economic doctrines of liberalism Manzoni depicts with precision causes and effects of a famine and criticizes the measures taken by the authorities.
