Up until the election of Vladmir Putin in March 2000, one of the most usual platitudes among western analysts was the conviction that the old-fashioned nomenklatura was back in power under the newly established apparatus in Russia. Although some years have passed, the question of the leadership there has turned out to be a key to understanding the emerging scenarios of a country in which a proper identity and fresh new role are still being sought internationally. This, however, comes at a time when internal developments require the country as a whole to confront the many contradictions resulting from tumultuous changes.
As a lecturer of International Politics at the University of Milan and the author of countless analytical studies in the area of international relations after World War II, Paolo CALZINI’s contribution appears as the first in the 27th issue of Per Aspera Ad Veritatem. In an interview with our editorial staff, Calzini provides effective answers to the many questions posed by observers on the subject of the current state of affairs in Russia, i.e. the post-soviet transitional period. In his interview, giving an insight into the Chechnya issue, the following questions also come to the surface: human rights; effects of Islam on Central Asia; and new geopolitical alliances in the fight against terrorism. The reader might do well to remember that the central region in Asia is configured as a border area in which endless clashes are still in existence. This point is, once again, dealt with in our Review by Valeria FIORANI PIACENTINI attempting to provide an outline of a multi-dimensional security system in this area, in the light of topics recently addressed in her lecture at the Harvard University.
Those wishing to gain an overview of Russian history over the last century are recommended to read the recent interesting book The Russian Century. History of the Last Hundred Years by Brian MOYNAHAN.
As is custom of the editorial staff, this issue of the Review includes a section highlighting the ceremonial event inaugurating the 2003-2004 academic year of the Training School of Sisde. This event was distinguished by the highly topical address given by the Minister Plenipotentiary, Riccardo SESSA, in the presence of the Italian Interior Minister,Giuseppe PISANU. Also this year, his remarkable speech is devoted to the strategies required by intelligence services when dealing with the pressing issues of the modern day.
Part One of the Review includes interesting, thought-provoking contributions on a variety of themes. As well as the work by Valeria FIORANI PIACENTINI mentioned earlier, the writing of Prof Tonino CANTELMI is worthy of mention. Adopting his own perspective as an expert in the area of psychiatry, Cantelmi, the President of the Italian Research Association of Interpersonal Cognitive Psychotherapy, discusses the effects brought about by digital revolution. These effects, by bringing about a new culture, have given rise to a variety of forms with which individuals can relate to themselves and to others. Moreover, in an epoch dominated by technology, as perhaps is this present one, the importance of individuals cannot be disregarded at least at an initial stage of the inquiry in order to fully understand the repercussions of the new patterns of life on the human mind and behaviour. Doubtless many of those who have no authority in the field will be attracted by the analysis of what are known as on-line psychopathological behaviours and be equally astonished to learn of the current psychotherapeutical experiments via the Internet. This is unquestionably a sign of the progress made in the boundaries of interpersonal relations. It should be pointed out, however, that the reference to the enormous impact of technological advances is also made through in-depth analysis in the essay L’intelligenza collettiva by Pierre LÉVY. This work can be found in the Book Reviews section, Part Six.
Thanks to the recent initiative of collaboration between the Argentinian Review edited by the Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia and Per Aspera Ad Veritatem, this number issue of the latter also includes José Gabriel PAZ’s article which addresses worldwide environmental security topics emphasising climate changes throughout the world. This article is a description of the critical scenarios in which environmental damage is likely to extent the frontiers of threat to the security of national states and international order alike. If this is correct, the author’s description is such as to demonstrate that solutions can only be found through appropriate international co-operation and serious commitment made by each government throughout the world in order to defend such a cause. Where Italy is concerned, however, this commitment has been further substantiated in the Third National Communication on Climate Change, as submitted to the UN Assembly by the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory. This document illustrates some of the typical aspects of climate change affecting Italy as a whole and, as such, alerts the Italian society at large to the significant dangers of this problem (excerpt published in Part Three).
Among essays and articles, however, mention should be made of the contribution by Vittofranco PISANO, a keen collaborator of our Review, on action for countering terrorism and the introduction of proscribed lists by the UN, EU and member states’ governments, these latter being described as effective instruments designed to provide a genuine list of terrorist organisations forbidden or condemned by law, as the term proscription suggests. The fact that these organisations are put on such lists can only involve such consequences as those resulting from preventive and repressive action. Reference to terrorism and related acts is also made in Part Four which specifically deals with judgments delivered by the relevant court authorities. Readers may find it interesting to learn about the reasoned arguments given during criminal proceedings by the District Court of Rotterdam on a matter concerning the evidentiary value of information collected by the national intelligence service. Here, the ruling of the Court in Rotterdam was that the majority of evidence submitted by the public prosecutor was in effect inadmissible. To some extent, this ruling is one which will provide food for thought about the tragic events following the 11th Sept, in particular, as regards the difficulty to place the probative value on elements affording proof or evidence during the gathering of intelligence.
Francisco ROJAS ARAVENA, who directs one of the most prestigious research centres in Chile, known as FLACSO, ends this section by providing an article on the topics which were originally addressed to the Special Security Conference in Latin America, held during last October in Mexico City.
The year 2003 has been marked by the 60th anniversary of a highly relevant event in our country: the 8th of September 1943. The historical relevance of this event, objectively speaking, is one which has also led scholars to resume interest in the concept of Italian national identity and motherland. Both concepts were put to the test in the popular consciousness at a time when the historical period of transition was uneasy to handle; it was at this time that the absence of power lasting only for a short period seemed to have caused a deeply rooted feeling of belonging in the Italians to their native country to vanish completely. Fundamentally, though, and despite political ambiguities, the suffering and destruction caused at that juncture were enough to show that the Italians were extremely devoted to their nation. This was solemnly celebrated in Porta S. Paolo by the President of the Republic, Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI, on the occasion of a ceremony held to commemorate the defence of Rome, one of many such events. General Gioacchino SOLINAS’s diary is dedicated to the memory and to those who personally experienced the battle waged at Porta S. Paolo and in other areas of the city of Rome. This short diary stands as a tribute to the valiant Grenadiers of Sardinia who were under his command during those dramatic days. The great historical tradition enjoyed by the Grenadiers, and on which our Armed Forces still rely today, was also our source of inspiration when deciding the types of image for the current issue. These images show six unpublished tables, using original watercolours of Quinto CENNI, an eminent Italian designer of military statues in miniature, which were found in the Grenadiers Historical Museum. We are, of course, very grateful to the Museum authority for allowing them to be published in this issue of the Review.
In December 2001, a new piece of legislation (appearing in Part Four) on the intelligence system was passed by the government in the Republic of Argentina. The usual section of foreign intelligence services is also dedicated in this issue to this Latin American country. Argentina, recognised to be a great nation, far from Europe, has acquired great importance for Italy, with which solid and lasting relations have been established in the economic and cultural areas. It is well known that since the early 1900s, large masses of immigrants poured into Argentina, thus establishing one of the largest and significant Italian communities in the world. It is no coincidence that the events occurring in that great country last year caused great public concern, in that despite the potential of the natural resources available there, Argentina experienced a profound crisis. This crisis was, among other things, caused by the government failing to strike a balance between the institutional organisation on the one hand, and the management and distribution of financial resources on the other. It is in this context where their poverty and backwardness are rooted, and where efforts are being made by the Argentinian people to eradicate such problems. There is no doubt that these people should deserve greater attention by the international community.
Alessandro BARICCO is the author interviewed in this issue. As a very prestigious writer, Baricco provides his argument on the themes covered in his recent book Next. In it, and in the wake of the emotional shock caused by the events in Genoa, Baricco questions himself on what the concept of globalisation actually means, both from the point of view of those who watch it carefully and attentively without having a precise and documented opinion or belief, and from the point of view of those who experience it as an ineluctable development of our contemporary society. Baricco’s work goes beyond the usual tourist track, representing the view of those who travel with their uncertainties and curiosities, without however feeling obliged to take up their own position.
Recommended books range from specifically professional themes (PRETO) to other subjects of a wider extent, dealing with the future of the European Union (LETTA, DALLA TORRE), international political scenarios (ROMANO), and subjects of historical relevance (BRAUDEL, DOLCETTA, MOYNAHAN, ZUBKOVA). SARTORI-MAZZOLENI’s text and, similarly, the renowned work of the Nobel Prize winner STIGLITZ deal with the themes already covered in this volume, i.e. environment and globalisation. Historical “Curiosities” have been taken from Alexandre DUMAS’s (father) travel journal on board, during his journey across the Eolian islands. The author of I tre Moschettieri and Il Conte di Montecristo engages in one of the many examples of the travel literature genre. This genre was the only source for governments and “curious” people of those days to obtain information about unknown and remote places, people, customs and traditions, given that there was no advanced technology to rely on in such a way as to fill the gap in terms of time and space. Among the evocative descriptions of landscape and natural beauty typifying the sea area narrated in the book, we have selected for our readers the charming island of Stromboli, of which we also publish pictures taken from vintage prints. Over the years, the dramatic force of its landscape continued to have an impact on the sensitivity and imagination of great artists, such as Roberto ROSSELLINI, who directed an unforgettable movie set on the island (Stromboli, terra di Dio) at the end of the 1940s.