On the 30th of November 1999, the Academic Year 1999-2000 of SISDe's Training School was officially open. In view of the strategical relevance that a modern organisation must attach to training activities, we present this event to our countless readers publishing the speeches held on the occasion by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior, the Director of SISDe, as well as the interesting and thorough contribution by Professor Paolo SAVONA on economic intelligence.
Training affects the future of institutions and their capability to be up to date when evaluating our complex and fast developing reality. It is not therefore a coincidence to find economic intelligence in this context. It is perhaps a controversial topic, but our Magazine has selected it as one of the most remarkable challenges posed to national security in the age of globalisation, as it is acquiring growing topical relevance also considering the elements and questions emerged from the recent events in Seattle.
Up until a few years ago - as those interested in intelligence issues will certainly remember - new topics were perceived by the public with suspicion and uncertainty. This was also the case with the issue of operational guarantees which was presented in our Magazine as an essential element for an intelligence abreast with the times.
It is often a case of misunderstanding. The need for operational guarantees was unavoidably interpreted as giving Intelligence Services a "free hand" to carry out illegal activities, without any form of control. It is in fact the opposite, as debates in recent years have demonstrated.
The problem is still unresolved but thanks to wider information and to the development of a common culture, which we hope to have contributed to, a balanced solution will certainly be achieved.
Our regular readers should be well aware of the relevance this issue has for SISDe in view of the well-known case involving the Service on which the Constitutional Court has already issued several decisions (the case is still pending). This is another reason why we have come to consider the issue of the operational guarantees for intelligence operators as a cornerstone for the future of the Italian intelligence.
The above-mentioned case as well as the need to share experiences, projects and problemareas on this subject with other Countries prompted us to organise a Seminar in Rome which saw the participation of legal experts from fifteen European Countries (in Part III we publish a brief account of the Seminar works).
The outstanding presentations by Professor Giovanni Maria FLICK and State Lawyer Ignazio Francesco CARAMAZZA to this international audience represent further steps towards the building of a "new intelligence" as required by the spirit of the current time.
In this issue of the Magazine our editorial project develops along two main lines which indirectly refer to more general topics: David BICKFORD with extraordinary competence dwells upon the new balances needed in the "new information age"; while Giulio TREMONTI, in view of the current instability of the single currency, expresses some interesting and stimulating remarks on the adoption of the EURO by Great Britain.
In Part II, we publish the half-yearly report submitted by the Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema to Parliament on the Government Intelligence and Security policy (January-June 1999).
We know, in fact, that our readers appreciate our attempt at becoming a sort of "container" for as many specialised documents on intelligence as possible.
Part IV of this issue is devoted to the Intelligence system of the Russian Federation. Considering the recent changings, it might be interesting to glance at the new reality of a Country in which intelligence has always played a crucial role within the government and the political establishment.
Finally, in Part V, we recommend some books which examine from a political, social and historical point of view new and traditional intelligence key issues. Among them the well-documented volume by M. FRANZINELLI on the OVRA's activities during the fascist regime, as well as the book by D. VINCENT on the culture of secrecy in Great Britain, traditionally considered as the "birthplace'' of the intelligence culture .
As usual, we conclude with the historical curios. While the Magazine appears on-line on the Word Wide Web for the purposes expressed by on.le Sergio MATTARELLA in the opening interview and by prefetto Vittorio STELO in his presentation, it is interesting and amusing to read about Caterina de' Medici and "the art to hide in order to achieve your goals".