“The reluctant reformer”, is the cover article of issue no. 22 of “Longitude”, the magazine edited by Pialuisa Bianco and available on newsstands as of 5 December. The article takes stock of the first 6 months of the Presidency of French Socialist Francois Hollande who defeated the incumbent Sarkozi with a “very left-wing” political platform that even won the endorsement of the far left. The issue also examines the re-election of American President Barack Obama (Featured Briefing- Realigning a divided America) which, nevertheless, revealed a society with no lack of divisions. In her editorial “Austerity, protests and leadership”, Bianco looks into what spurred the pan-European union protests against the crisis to explain that it is no longer possible to maintain the causes that contributed to the crisis, i.e. increased public spending. Hence the need for austerity.
One section of the issue is dedicated to the “Global Strategy”, with editorials by Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Marta Dassù (No more free ride), former Foreign Minister Franco Frattini (Living securely in a global village) on “how to face the threat to national security in a globalised world”, Director of the Department of Information for Security Giampiero Massolo (Making it safe to surf), on the approach of governments to IT security, and Director General for Political and Security Affairs of the foreign ministry Sandro de Bernardin (Fiddling on the roof, while decluttering), who says that diplomacy has become an art requiring balance and virtuosity. The magazine’s “Militaria” section lists the first ten books that West Point cadets read.
