Silvio Berlusconi and the traditions of Italian foreign policy: a comment on Ambassador Romano's presentation

Abstract

While open to criticism on many levels, the foreign policy of Italy under Silvio Berlusconi does not deviate in many significant ways from traditional approaches, especially on its management of Italy's relations with the United States and the European Union. Italy's ‘exceptionalism’ is also similar to that of many other European states.     

Arguing for a worldwide perspective: Italy and the reform of the international monetary system between transatlantic cooperation and European integration (1971–73)

The end of the Bretton Woods system, following the US decision of August 1971, and the simultaneous re-launch of the European integration with the enactment of the Werner plan came at a critical moment of internal weakness for Italy. This article highlights how the Italian government and the monetary authorities – while not always on the same wavelength – tried to tackle these challenges with a view to preserving the principles of multilateral cooperation that had promoted the country's recovery in the post-war years. By launching the project denominated ‘Global Approach’ in the summer of 1972, Italy tried to interconnect the modification of the Werner plan with the reform of the international monetary system within the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to restrain the growing trends towards unilateralism. However, despite all efforts, both initiatives were doomed to failure while the country entered a dramatic period of political instability and social unrest.     

Interview with Romano Prodi

On the occasion of the Conference on the State of Italy, held at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies on 29–30 October 2013, David Kertzer interviewed former two-time Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Their focus was on the evolution of Prodi's involvement in Italian government and politics. This first in what is planned to be two such interviews examines Prodi's initial move from an economics professor at the University of Bologna interested in the study of political economy and industrial policy, to a major figure in implementing industrial policy in Italy. It looks at his brief stint as Minister of Industry under Giulio Andreotti, his founding of the influential industrial study group Nomisma, and then his presidency of the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRI), Italy's giant holding company. With the crisis of the Italian political system in the early 1990s, Prodi was central to the creation of a new centre-left coalition, named L'Ulivo (the Olive Tree), an experience he recalls here, along with his first experience as Prime Minister, from 1996 to 1998.     

西方人口史研究新进展述评

20世纪中叶以来 ,西方在人口史研究方面取得了巨大进展 ,还采用了新的研究方法。这些成果不仅提供了对近代人口普查前的各国人口数量和结构等基本状况的描述 ,而且增进了历史学对一些重大问题的理论探讨 ,拓宽了历史学的视野和领域。     

欧洲整体的历史与整体的阐述——评《欧洲的分与合》

《欧洲的分与合》这部著作具有重大的学术价值：这是中国史学界第一次真正把欧洲作为一个整体来阐述它的历史发展,论证了当代欧洲发生巨变的必然性;标志着中国史学界在欧洲史研究领域取得了突破性进展。《欧洲的分与合》以其对欧洲整体的历史作出整体阐述的风格,超越了以往众多的欧洲史著作。     

Distinguishing different types of early 17th-century Dutch Jacht and Ship through multivariate morphometric analysis of contemporary maritime art

In research to reconstruct the design of a small Dutch vessel of c . 1600, morphometric analysis of ship iconography proved very useful. Both uni-variate and multi-variate modes of statistical analysis, as used in this research, are described and discussed. Four classifications of three-masted, square-rigged Dutch sailing vessels—ships, jachts, large jachts and small jachts—were shown to be clearly distinguished types in the multi-variate data space.     

Learning to sail the Duyfken replica

The rig of the Duyfken 'replica', a reconstruction Dutch jacht of c . 1600 is described. Sail-handling techniques and sailing performance including steering with a whipstaff are also described. Experiments to improve sailing efficiency, some prompted by analysis of contemporary iconography, are discussed.     

现代测绘技术在古建烫样数字化项目中的应用

烫样是研究清代皇家建筑的珍贵文物,为配合文物信息数字化工作的开展,针对烫样数据的采集和处理方法进行了深入研究。在综合考虑多种数据采集方法的特点及烫样数字化记录的难点后,选择使用手持式三维扫描仪与多视角三维重建技术相结合的方式来进行烫样的基础数据采集,并通过实践总结出了一套完整的数据采集和处理工作流程。与此同时,针对成果可能的应用方式做了些许尝试,且为数据的后期维护与进一步利用拟定了数据管理系统的建设方案。     

西方城市居住行为研究进展及其对中国的启示

改革开放40年以来,住房市场化转型使中国拥有了一个相对独特的住房制度环境,对城市空间结构、居民居住状况和民生福祉等各方面都产生了深远影响。中央政府明确强调需加快研究建立符合国情、适应市场规律的房地产基础性制度和长效机制,而这需要对城市居民微观居住行为进行深入研究。居住行为作为城市地理学的重要议题,近年来,相关研究虽不断涌现,但尚缺乏系统的理论梳理和实证研究总结。本文利用知识图谱可视化刻画了居住行为研究热点的演化,从居住迁移、住房产权获得、住房生涯三方面对西方相关研究进展和前沿进行评述,并进一步梳理了居住行为与城市空间的关系,以深化对城市居住空间分异机制的理解;在总结中西方差异的基础上,对中国现有实证研究进行了回顾;立足于中国国情和现有住房政策,分别从理论、内容、数据和方法三个方面对未来中国居住行为研究方向进行展望,旨在引起学术界对居住行为的关注,为推动中国居住行为研究理论构建、理解社会空间重构机制提供参考。     

Introduction: Italy and the Euro–Mediterranean ‘migrant crisis’: national reception,lived experiences,E.U. pressures

The introduction discusses the origins of this themed section of the Journal of Modern Italian Studies, based on a 2017 interdisciplinary conference about migration and the migrant experience in Italy. The co-editors recognized early on that the U.S. media was paying inadequate attention to migrant landings in Italy during the so-called refugee crisis around 2015–16, and engaged scholars active in Italy, the U.K. and the U.S. to provide further nuance to this particular migratory flow, and in particular to question how the term ‘crisis’ was used in describing it. In response to a public debate increasingly prone to alarmism, the articles produced after the conference investigate the contradictions of the Italian reception system of migrants and refugees; the often glossed-over labour, race, and gender aspects of the flows; and the critical conditions of the Mediterranean crossing as represented in film and theatre. The contributions specifically bring forward the migrants’ voices to challenge the exclusionary practices adopted in Italy and Europe in favour of structured legal channels, and to reveal the growing crisis of E.U. democratic principles.