UNIFIL’s Fig Leaf on Diverging Worldviews

The crisis between Israel and UNIFIL highlights the collapse of a unified UN perspective and differing agendas between Washington and Beijing. It is difficult to patch up the situation or dismantle the organization entirely. After World War I, the victorious powers created the League of Nations to avoid the mistakes and misunderstandings that led to […]

Does China need a Grand Strategy?

China might need a new Grand Strategy for the first time since the 3rd century BC unification, but it is quite elusive. Italy has parallel issues, and there could be lessons to be learned there. “Here begins our tale. The Empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been. In […]

Meloni, the Church, and the EU: An Existential Issue

There are both trivial motives of political opportunism and deeper reasons concerning the Church’s “mission” for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to pay close attention to the warnings of CEI (Italian Bishops’ Conference) president, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, regarding the controversial bill of “differentiated autonomy.” The bill devolves significant central powers to the regions, strengthening existing centrifugal […]

Good health to you, Mr. Berlusconi… and to Italy

He was the idol of many men and women. He had it all—the money, the power, the girls, the friends. The money: He was one of the richest men in the world, coming from nothing. The power: He was the most potent Italian politician in two decades. He dominated national politics and its culture. He […]

Better call Trump

There is a strong China angle in the whole Donald Trump affair[1], the growing controversy engulfing America about the ex-president’s behavior during the January 6, 2021 tumult, and his insistence on rejecting the results of the election that brought Joseph Biden to the presidency. The Chinese political system is consistently vertical, unitary, and rational. It […]

An Italian Postmodern Coup

The resignation of Mario Draghi as Prime Minister of Italy, to be officially tendered next Wednesday, could trigger a chain of events going well beyond Italian borders. They could engulf the whole continent and give Russia a badly needed political win, something that so far has escaped it on the battlefields of Ukraine. One scenario […]