The National Press Club, Washington DC – June 12 th, 2015
Moderator
Lorenzo Montanari, Executive Board Member, US-Italy Global Affairs Forum
Panelists
Amb. Francesco Olivieri, former president, ENEL-USA, Washington DC
Dario Fabbri, Limes
Giovanni Faleg, ricercatore/researcher, Centre for European Policy Studies, Washington, DC
On June 12th, the US-Italy Global Affairs Forum hosted, at the National Press Club, the official presentation of the LIMES-Rivista Italiana di Geopolitica (Limes) June’s issue. The roundtable discussion was a great opportunity to debate with journalists and foreign policy experts about the Limes’ June issue.
The event was moderated by Lorenzo Montanari, board member of the US-Italy Global Affairs Forum, with three speakers: Dario Fabbri, journalist at LIMES, Ambassador Francesco Olivieri, and Dr. Giovanni Faleg, researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies.
Dario Fabbri (in connection via Skype from Rome) presented the June issue, and provided a provocative portrait of the U.S.. He described the U.S democratic system as being lead by an inner circle of oligarchs supported by a system of lobbies.
While Ambassador Olivieri provide a unique portrait about America today. Today’s Europeans are somewhat conflicted about America. The image they grew up with doesn’t reflect anymore the reality of a society that has exploded in a few decades into a massive world power. In the process, little wonder that she lost some of the homespun character that captivated Old World citizens of all ages and all persuasions when they first met Americans in their role as liberators, victorious warriors who didn’t exterminate the conquered and started feeding them instead. Today’s America, two generations into a unipolar world, appears in a much more complex and nuanced reality. That is due not only to a more sober appreciation of starstruck Europeans, but naturally enough to the fact that profound changes have indeed occurred in America herself.
Last but not least, Dr. Giovanni Faleg focused his presentation on how the U.S. is facing internal conflict between repositioning themselves as a global player in the international arena, and fixing technological asymmetries within the U.S. political system. These discrepancies have direct consequences on the way the U.S and the European Union are managing geopolitical conflicts such as in Ukraine and Syria.
