The term "Ecomafia" encompasses all criminal phenomena connected with the environment and indicates one of the emerging national threats. It has been selected as the "cover story" for the second issue of 1998 of "Per Aspera ad Veritatem".
In an interview, Ermete REALACCI and Enrico FONTANA from LEGAMBIENTE explain their association's initiatives aimed at informing and increasing public awareness in this field, and at exposing illegal activities. Their founded belief is that Italy's artistic, cultural and historical wealth represents an extraordinary asset, which creates an unbreakable bond between the protection of the environment and the defence of our national identity and interests. In this respect, it is enlightening to examine the abstract from the 1998 "Ecomafia report", published in Part II, which provides data and information of undoubted interest also for the Intelligence Services.
The protection of privacy, which continues to be a focal issue in the current legislative process, is often a source of controversy when it hinders investigations. A recent example is to be found in the legislative decree n. 171 of 13.05.1998, implementing the European directive n. 97/66/EC, whose provisions (to be found in PART III) are by some considered as potentially detrimental to the development of investigations.
In more general terms, accountability, confidentiality and secrecy are the subject of Ignazio CARAMAZZA's valuable contribution to this volume. His remarks, particularly with regard to the "segreto di Stato", are very significant especially when one considers the recent judgement by the Constitutional Court on the same subject (published in Number 10 of "Per Aspera ad Veritatem").
An in-depth knowledge of specific contexts and of social and cultural dynamics is a prerequisite for a successful threat analysis, particularly when dealing with non-traditional areas like economic intelligence, which is the topic of Osvaldo CUCUZZA's contribution to this volume, or with emerging threats linked with the increase in immigration flows, examined by Fabio EVANGELISTI in his essay.
An intelligence publication such as "Per Aspera ad Veritatem" could not possibly neglect the theme of "pure" intelligence, that is intelligence as modus operandi and organisation. In this respect, the article by Pierre LACOSTE is extremely interesting. Whereas Gunter HAENDLY's valuable contribution offers a retrospective view over a recent historical period that needs to be thoroughly understood and left behind, so as to further more integration processes within the rule of law.
Part II, usually dedicated to Parliamentary documents, is in this issue enriched by some comparative tables illustrating other countries' systems to exert parliamentary scrutiny over the Intelligence bodies. This is in compliance with the attempt to open our publication to a more international perspective as to the selection of contributors, of topics and of documents to be published. Our Reader has probably already noticed an increase in the number of texts published with translation. As from the present issue the table of contents will also be published in English, in an effort further to increase the already large number of our foreign readers.
In PART IV, which is dedicated to other countries' Intelligence organisations, information on the Kingdom of Sweden's Intelligence Services is made available.
The section devoted to the reviews of books and articles on intelligence is in this issue extremely rich. Amongst others the volume "Regulating covert action", still to be published in Italy, is worthy of a mention because of the wealth of references it provides on a subject widely neglected, in Italy as well as in other countries, by the Legislator.
Finally, in the historical curios, W.G. SINNIGEN's article on old Rome's Secret Services is of great historical interest as literature on this subject is extremely scarce.