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Il concetto di sviluppo sostenibile entra nella sfera politica globale nel 1987 quando le Nazioni Unite presentano la relazione della Commissione mondiale sull’ambiente e lo sviluppo presieduta dalla ex primo ministro norvegese Gro Harlem Brundtland (Gruppo di studio sull’ambiente 2012). E l’energia è un fattore determinante dello
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There are moments in history when policy reversals seem so neat at first glance that can be described as simple combinations of vectorial repertoires. With some disturbing constants, though. In this example I consider Iranian state policy governing the apperance of women’s heads as decreed first by the Shah
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Hannah Arendt’s famous thesis is as often quoted as misunderstood. While she was proven wrong in assessing Eichmann’s historical role and personality, even where she erred, she did it in a creative, felicitous way. Eichmann’s evil deeds were indeed banal if we refer to the feudal autonomy
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A recent new book by the Dutch journalist Bette Dam, and its English summary published as “The Secret Life of Mullah Omar” by the Zomia Center, maintain that Mullah Omar, the erstwhile leader of the Afghan Taliban, lived in a small village in Afghanistan after the American invasion of late
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I recently moved back to Italy from Belgium. As I opened a new fiscal position as a freelance consultant, I faced the question of signing documents digitally. There are several providers of digital identity services in the Italian market, with reasonable prices ranging from 25 to 85 euros per three
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The search-and-rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean were overall successful in saving thousands of lives in the years 2014-2017. Compared with the previous years, the rescues reduced and stabilised the fatality rate for the persons attempting a dangerous sea crossing. Several NGOs contributed significantly to this joint effort coordinated by
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Our correspondent reports from the great city of the Caesars. A few months ago, on 19th July of the tenth year of divus Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, DCCCXVII a.U.c.,1 a raging fire destroyed large swathes of the city of Rome. To undiscerning eyes it looked like
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Everybody wants more participation, not less. But the current social project for Europe ultimately offers a kind of feeble, diluted participation that we will affectionately call le objet petit p: a participation without effective decision-making powers, that does not affect social property relations. An ancient form of collective property still
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In order to make the Internet a freer, more decentralised, less oligarchical place, users should have full control on their online identity and this should be separate from other online services like email, instant messaging, microblogging, social networking etc. Online services, in turn, should be based on open standards, yes
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Kidnappings by terrorist groups are on the rise globally. The chances of surviving this ordeal vary greatly according to the nationality of the victim. This is particularly true for aid workers, one of the groups worst hit by this plague. Two journalists – an Italian and an Afghan – were abducted in
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Essere confusi e non riuscire a scegliere tra il SI e il NO nel referendum di conferma della riforma costituzionale del 4 dicembre in Italia è normale perché la differenza tra gli effetti delle due opzioni sul funzionamento dell’ordinamento della Repubblica nel medio e lungo periodo è minima. O
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After 52 years of civil war and four years of negotiations, a wafer thin minority of Colombian voters rejected the historical peace agreement with the FARC-EP guerrillas. If the president and his adviser were searching for popular legitimacy, they miscalculated. One decision in particular seems ill advised, the lowering of
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Review of: Guido Bertagna, Adolfo Ceretti and Claudia Mazzucato (eds.), Il libro dell’incontro: vittime e responsabili della lotta armata a confronto. Milan: il Saggiatore, 2015, 466pp., ISBN: 9788842821458. [Lit.: The book of the encounter: victims and militants of the armed struggle face each others] A shorter version of this
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Watching El Cid – Anthony Mann’s movie – half a century after its release in 1961 it gives an unmistakable sensation of déjà vu. The representations of yesterday’s villains, the black-clad, fanatical hordes ready to “sweep up from Africa” and conquer “first Spain, then Europe and the whole world” carry
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Research report on the qualitative comparative analysis for the ALTERNATIVE project (FP7): “Developing alternative understandings of security and justice through restorative justice approaches in intercultural settings within democratic societies” (2012-2014) Read the full report (pdf) on the ALTERNATIVE project website ALTERNATIVE media platform (videos etc.) Executive summary The ALTERNATIVE project
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The so-called ‘Copenhagen school’ of security studies has stirred the waters of international relations theory, and perhaps of social sciences in general, since the mid 1990s. It is defined by its trademark epistemological move, reflexively defining security – or rather securitisation – through a speech-act and its consequences (‘it doesn’t matter