WTI Magazine #24    2014 Apr, 04
Author : Francesca Papasergi      Translation by:

As an Italian, I've always considered Americans as brothers, friends and allies. We have our differences, but we share values and ideals, and they constitute our common background. When times get tough and we have to stand up and build something together, we appeal to those foundations.

The privileged relations between Italy and the US are well-known. Immigration set up a strong Italian-American community that helped the US to become the country it is today. The American intervention in the WWII changed Italy's perspectives as much as the Marshall Plan did when the conflict was over. The NATO Treaty states our military, political alliance; decades of scientific research prove our multilateral collaboration. President Obama's short permanence in Rome last week only confirmed the longtime friendship and the mutual love that Italians and Americans have for each others' country and people.

Three meetings marked Mr. Obama's visit.

This visit was special for Matteo Renzi. He had the opportunity to meet the politician who notoriously is his model, and he repeated that Italy and the US can do great things together. It is true. America and Italy cooperation can bring benefits for their peoples, both in economic and in social fields.

President Napolitano has history with the US. Not only he was the first Italian communist politician to visit officially the United States, but from that moment on, he was considered a privileged spokesman by presidents and secretaries of state overseas. President Obama called him a friend and " a great statesman".

Last, but not least, Pope Francis welcomed the POTUS in his private cabinet and their first time together was about many social issues that are part of Obama's storytelling. Probably, next year the Pope will travel the US, and the House Speaker John Boehner invited him to give a speech in the Congress. It will be another first and it will consolidate Pope Francis' influence in the entire world.

Italy – as a single country and as part of the EU – is a natural interlocutor of America. This crisis can be defeated if we work together. May these encounters be the best auspice.