Entries from SAIS Next Europe tagged with 'italy'
Europe Swings Sharply to the Right
In his much-anticipated Cairo speech, President Obama rebuked the "negative stereotypes of Islam" and faced the Muslim world with a call for "mutual respect." Yet at the same moment, European sentiment seemed to be moving in the opposite direction.
The Gaza War's Italian Front
Just as the recent Gaza War had repercussions on Israeli politics, it is having effects on Italian politics as well. The war has raised new questions about church-state relations in a country where religion is always touchy.
The Italian front of the Gaza War opened in Milan on January 3rd, with a demonstration to oppose the Israeli incursion into Gaza. A Muslim prayer in the Piazza Duomo followed the demonstration. This square is the highest profile locale in the city as well as the location of the third-largest Catholic cathedral in the world. The authorities had apparently known about the protest, but the prayer in front of the cathedral was spontaneous. A similar event was held in Bologna in front of San Petronio Cathedral. Italian newspapers printed images of several hundred Muslims gathered in front of the churches, praying toward Mecca.
What Europe and America Each Teach
The most unforeseen merit of studying at Johns Hopkins' campus in Bologna, Italy is that of becoming conscious of the hidden pitfalls of both American academia and the Italian way of life. I say hidden pitfalls because the darker sides of a rigorous, world-class education in one of Europe's most culturally rich locations are exposed more fully then ever when these two worlds overlap and most powerfully, when they collide.
Petraeus Argues Iraq, Afghanistan Case in Rome
No stranger to famous generals, Rome served as a fitting backdrop last week as General Petraeus addressed a mixed crowd of military officers and civilians at the Center for American Studies. For forty-five minutes, the man in charge of the U.S. Military's Central Command gave an Iraq status update, highlighting the tumultuous road that country has traveled especially since the beginning of 2004.
Europe's Winner in Financial Crisis: Politicians
In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy nearly abandoned capitalism during his speech in Toulon on September 24th. Coming from the current EU President, his comments added to the sense of panic, rather than showing resolve and leadership. Those comments may have resonated with socialist sympathizers in France, but left financial analysts scratching their heads. Many are wondering if this is just another French promised reformist, turned apathetic. A few weeks ago he gathered with his European counterparts for a coordinated rescue package, which calls into question the purpose of his Toulon rhetoric. Remind me which side was he on during the '68 protests? He's made a decent effort to spearhead negotiations recently among the EU and US counterparts, but now appears to be stalling the process with his insistence on including energy-related language. If the Kyoto and the EU carbon credit fiascos taught anything is that the US and the EU are nowhere near consensus on climate change.
Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi appeared too fixated on saving Alitalia to notice the looming global meltdown. Now, with the banking system called into question, the rescue of Italy's national airline is on the backburner. Although he's a successful business executive who must understand markets, with his three-thousand Euro suits Berlusconi embodies an air of the backroom-deal and golden parachute that many attribute as the prime causes of the financial crisis. It may be hard for the billionaire to appeal to the unemployed if the crisis gets out of hand in Italy, but the jury is still out, pending the country's financial state in the coming months.
October a Tough Month for Italian Immigrants
A young Bangladeshi man working at the convenience store pointed to a plastic bag in his hand. "What do you call this?" he asked me in Italian.
"Bag," I responded in English.
"No, in Italiano?"
"Uhm borsa?" Wrong again. He rolled his eyes at me. At the time, I assumed he was simply correcting my facile grasp of his second language; but in retrospect, he may also have been expressing frustration that, unlike me-- a privileged foreign student-- his children may have to pass a language test to attend Italian schools.
Indeed, October was a tough month for immigrants. On October 15th, the lower house of Italy's parliament approved a plan to require immigrant children to pass a special test before being admitted to school. If students failed, they would be required to take special classes on Italian language and culture. The Senate must still approve the legislation for it to become law. Critics call it xenophobic, bordering on fascist while supporters say it is necessary for proper integration.
Italy's Students Protest Education Cuts
When I was an undergrad at the University of Southern California, the greatest confrontation between students and administration came when the university decided to stop beer sales at football games. How did the student population react? Write letters? Sign petitions? Organize? Protest? Well, we mostly whined to one another, drank even more before the games, and left at half time feeling bad - and not because of the score - soon forgetting the luxury of ever having been able to drink in the stadium.
In my few weeks as a student in Italy, however, I've been exposed to a whole new world of student activism.
In Italy, a Lesson in Laundry Economics
"Wash and Dry-- 6000 Lire." It was the last thing I expected to see painted on the wall of the local laundromat in Bologna, Italy, where I made the most banal of weekly pilgrimages in college life. I was hoping for clean underwear; I got a lesson in economics.
Has the EU Been Watching Lou Dobbs?
Immigrants detained indefinitely, fingerprinting racially-profiled populations, mass deportations: this may sound like a typical European's justification for prosecuting President Bush at the International Criminal Court, but these disturbing developments are, in fact, part of a wave of anti-immigration policies taking hold in the European Union. The sentiment is likely a result of slowing economic growth and increased pressure on highly regulated labor markets, but such pressures are testing the limits of one of the EU's founding principles, the free movement of labor.
What began as a debate over undocumented immigration is turning into a debate over the merits of immigration, both legal and illegal, and leading to calls of preserving national identity
Italy's 'Bridge to Nowhere'
At a time when the airline industry is crumbling in Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is focusing on other means of connections. He wants to build a bridge - not that we haven't heard that from politicians before. But while others eventually say, 'thanks, but no thanks,' Berlusconi smiles widely and says yes. He has given the go-ahead to start building the world's longest suspension bridge. It will be a grandiose national project. It will also be to Italy what was snubbed in Alaska: a bridge to nowhere.
This one will stretch more than two miles over the stormy Strait of Messina and link the toe of the boot-shaped Italian mainland to its closest island, Sicily. It will connect one poor region to an even poorer island. But is the project worthwhile?
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