The last issue of 2002 introduces some innovations in our Magazine. As readers may see in the manchette enclosed and also by consulting the website, from n. 25 Per Aspera ad Veritatem will be available in many bookshops throughout Italy, thanks to a co-operation agreement with the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato. It will also be possible to subscribe to it and to request back issues, to satisfy the many demands received by the editorial office complaining of difficulties in getting hold of the Magazine.
This is, above all, the result of the spreading of a culture of intelligence in our country which has brought about an increase in events and locations where security issues are debated. Some universities and study centres are promoting courses, seminars and meetings. New magazines and various editorial initiatives in the media appear to attract a growing audience. Undoubtedly this development has also been accelerated by the worries and uncertainties which stirred people’s souls after the long to be remembered September 11 events. They have generated a desire to know more and to be more aware as citizens and as individuals. Whatever the reasons might be, from our point of view it is important to perceive the meaning of this trend in order to strengthen the commitment towards our primary objective, to eliminate through communication the gap existing between the common feeling and the constitutional values and principles (among them security) which represent an essential part of the life of the community and, in some way, its very essence.
It is now a widespread belief that the new millennium has brought about a new awareness of the strategic relevance of intelligence vis à vis the new threats.
In recent months intelligence agencies in several countries have undergone regulatory updates aimed at strengthening and improving them both culturally and professionally. Our parliament is now following this example. Intelligence Services all over the world are adopting different measures to upgrade their organizational, training and recruiting capacities, in order to be updated under the cultural and professional aspect.
For these and many more reasons the inauguration of SISDe’s Training School, which we present every year to our readers, has this time a deeper meaning as the quality of the human resources is more than ever a key element for the success of modern intelligence.
Before any reform, modern structures appear to be able to somewhat self reform in order to face changing situations which require knowledge of professional instruments and a general ability to interpret reality. In this framework of continuous development the School plays an important role. The presence of the Minister of the Interior (by now a tradition) and the speech by the Ambassador Sergio ROMANO on the most significant international issues at the end of 2002, conferred depth and a special value to the occasion.
The interview which opens the present volume is equally valuable. In number 22 Prof. Pio MARCONI examined current transformations in the world of work with their consequences on the social organization and on the unions, and looked at the attempts by domestic terrorism to play a subversive role within the social conflict. These themes, whose relevance all of us can perceive, are placed by Prof. Maurizio SACCONI, Under Secretary of State for employment, health and social policies, within the wider framework of current Government’s policy.
Part I, as usual dedicated to Essays and Articles, includes contributions on various subjects all linked to intelligence, which we hope will appeal to our Readers. Among these, Carlo MOSCA’s speech, held on 13th December 2002, before the President of the Republic, during the final ceremony of the bicentenary celebrations of the “Prefetto”. Such role - sensitive to the community needs - strongly supports the local intelligence, and the more the legal system is going towards unitary federalism the more it acquires strategic relevance. Relevant both to legislation and to terrorism, TESSUTO’s contribution underlines the importance of the linguistic aspect in legislation. Field experts are well aware of difficulties and obstacles when it comes to adopting common definitions, especially within the context of international organizations.
More closely linked to the Services’ daily activities are the contributions by CANTADORI on dissolution of city councils for Mafia infiltration and by NAVARRA and MACCONO on destabilization. The Direzione Nazionale Antimafia has had to deal with matters linked to the significant increase in money transfers to other countries, a consequence of the growing foreign presence on our territory. Such developments become extremely meaningful in the fight against money laundering by terrorists and organized crime as underlined by Antonio LAUDATI, Magistrate of the Procura Nazionale Antimafia, with long experience in this field.
Many interesting documents are included in Part II and in Part III. Among them we point out to our Readers a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Rotaru v. Rumania, of May 2000, significant in itself but also in connection to the problem of handling personal data.
Rumania aims to join the enlarged European Union at a later date after the first group of nations. To this end, after the Ceausescu regime, the country has inaugurated a real revolutionary process in the intelligence for national security, with new Services and new regulations for increased transparency and control. Part IV is also dedicated to the intelligence system of that country.
In the present volume the section devoted to reviews and bibliographic recommendations is particularly rich. It opens with an interview with Massimo FRANCO, a journalist from Panorama and the author of the book Polvere di spie and includes some titles from shops’ bookshelves that recently appear to be loaded with titles on globalisation, anti-globalisation and international terrorism.
In the Historical Curios, we present an abstract from a booklet by CANOSA and COLONNELLO, published by Sellerio, entitled Spionaggio a Palermo. They present a detailed reconstruction of a 16th century context of great interest. Among the many descriptions of the corsairs’ activities in the Mediterranean we have selected one dedicated to counterespionage in the Sicilian capital.
Finally, we are pleased to present the new SISDE’s logo, adopted since January 2003 (the related references are published in the beginning of Part II). We have provided our readers with a short summary of the previous SISDE’s logos. The new logo - selected in order to represent the current challenges - combines innovation and tradition, maintaining the motto Per Aspera ad Veritatem, which is also the title of our Magazine.