The Mediterranean role of Italy in the European and continental scenario

It is our opinion that Italian-Russian relationships should go in the forced way of a common will, in order to achieve the geopolitical pourpose of this century: the passage to multipolarism. Italy represents both a special partner in Russian interests, both a fundamental crosspoint in the development of the European continent – primary target for the passage to multipolarism in the continental scenario – both the main element in the continent-coast area: briefly speaking: the Eurasian Rimland. Inside this scheme, we will show the importance of counscious Italian foreing politics about the relationships with its Eastern neighbours; inside the scenario of defending national interests through an energetic and commercial partnership, of the construction of a great European safe and independent area, and of the military stabilization of the inter-continental and Mediterranean. As we will see, even thou Rome and Moscow are separated by 2300 kilometers on ground, it is in the sea space of Mediterranean Sea that will be played the most important match for the future of the Center of Europe.

In the classical geopolitics, expecially in the visions of Halford Mackinder and Karl Haushofer, the great continental space going from Portugal to Siberia is seen as a Earth continuum with a proper ground unit and a potential power confrontable with only the one of the other geopolitical giant on the north-western side of the world. The strategical void in which the continents opposition is fought is the everlasting lack of a common strategy in the great Eurasia. In everything this we can define the center of the main battle in the challenge of the continents.

The primary target for a working continental stability, are then the relationships between Heartland, the “Center of the Earth”, the great Eurasian central area; and Rimland (so named by Nicholas John Spykman), the coast sector close to all the seas, of which Europe represents the western pole. This opposition itself is, in the vision of Carl Schmitt, symbolized by the biblical fight between the ground beast Behemot and the sea beast Leviathan, archetypes symbolizing in the holy sience the polar principles of telluric orderd and liquid chaos. Over all the fundamental etical and philosophical meanings, it is important to deduce from this intrinsecal war of the history of peoples, that this challenge, nowadays extended on global scale and switched to the continental level, was in the Old World fought between England and the European power.

Ii it in this vision that Europe, in order to achieve the challenge, must go towards the integration of the two great sectors in which it is splitted apart; represented by the three great areas of which it is compounded – european, eurasian and east-asian – which are nowadays taking shape as long as the chrysis of the US unipolarism is going forth. In everythig this Italy, the main crosspoint of the Mediterranean region, gets fundamental for the pourposes of Russia, the central point of the great Eurasian area, and so the Hearthland of the continent. According to the foreseekings of classical geopolitics, the most important element in the fight between the two continental areas is the potential achieving of territories on the coastline for the Hearthland zone.

The coastline is directly granted by Europe, which has a face on the Atlantic Ocean and one on the Mediterranean Sea. Europe itself has the chance to achieve its interests only in two directions: or the integration of the ground area (in a mid-european perspective) or the self-confirmation as the main actor in the Mediterranean Sea (in a euro-mediterranean perspective). Of the four belts in which analists divide the multipolar world, the Euro-african one, going from South-Africa towards Norway, represents a macrosector as important as the one going from West to East. It is in this new gigantic area that Italy, which has historcally represented the guide role in the mediterranean integration, as much as Russia in the eurasian one, would take the unavoidable duty of being the bridge in the diplomacies about politics, economics and culture between Africa and Europe. Its role in the Eurafrican space would become likelike the Russia-Eurasia one in the continental World Island. The energetical exchanges from Africa towards Europe, expecially Western Europe, would all go through Italy, making it the natural center for a greater euro-african integration.

The Italy-Lybia relationships, in the changing world scenario, used to be the first step towards the building of multipolar order in the euro-african area; between North – a unipolarism bounded Europe, paying its final fase with the economical chrysis – and south – Africa, which between difficulties, managed to stack one of its countries in the BRICS coalition – opening to its relationships with China. The role of the mediterranean area would then become the one of the Euro-african Hearthland, inside of which Italy would take the role of a integration space not different with the one of Russia as center of the great Eurasian space. What analysis did not manage to foresee, is the opening of Italy to the role of a civilization bridge and political crosspoint of the new gigantic geographical area, arosen in this era of titanic battles: the euro-african pole. Everything this would really represent then the resurrection the First Rome, located on the vertical geographical axis, just like the Third Rome is located on the horizontal one. Ii looks like the realization of the symbolic prophecy of Northern Ragnarok, when in the main battle for the destiny of the world all the ancient powers will arise again. In the war of the continents, the Italian giant woke up too.

The crosspoint role of Italy will so remain asleep as long as there won’t be changings in its policies: the switch to the multipolarism can only happen through a freeing from the unipolar boundary, realized in the submission to the economical commands of the far West and to the military ones of the Atlantic Treaty. What is important in Italy as a potential powerstate will never take expression as long as Italy, bounded to the European system, will never break free from it like from the US unipolarism. The global passage to multipolarism, as we want it or not, will happen both in US Far West both in Europe, which nowaday is the US bridge in the Eurasia. It is this scenario that we see the first necessity of a common alliance between Italy and Russia, between Europe and Eurasia.

Europe, as we have shown, would be in the multipolar scenario bounded in two enormous continetnal areas: it is both the western point of Eurasian Word-Island both the northern polepoint of Euro-africa. As like it is located in a perfect puzzle of encounter of the two macrosectors, so the interests on it are perfectly harmonic.  On one side: it is in the interest of Eurasia that Europe, meaning the Rimland, breaks free from military, economical and cultural submission imposed by the north-atlantic space. On the other side: it is a Euro-african interest that Europe cooperates for an integration with Africa. Last but not last: it is a European interest to gain sovereignity (political, economical and cultural) as a great space, and Europe can achieve this only by respecting its natural condition of part of the two areas, eurasian and euro-african. It is even in the the processes of Euro-russian  partnership that Italy shows its great necessity:  Italy is for sure one of the European countries which, in the last years, had the closest relationships with Russia: it represents the third commercial partner for Russia, after Germany and China. The Italian companies Eni, Enel, Saipem and Finmeccanica are quite active in Russia: in 2007 was signed a treaty betw een Eni and Gazprom for the building of the South Stream pipeline, which will be an energetic vein of Eurasia going from Russia to Europe. On the strategical scenario, likewise, Italy has signed with Russia an intergovernative treaty in 1996 about the technical-military necessities and about the warfare industry.

Considering the important relationship that Italy has with Russia as crosspoint of the great Eurasia, Italy could become then a crosspoint for the sake of switching international politics: from the North Atlantic Treaty’s rail (which will conduct towards nothing) to the one of a more advantageus multipolar scenario. In the geopolitics of civilizations the euro-african space would then regain its culturally mediterranean nature. As like in the height of the civilization war the steppe-horsemen spirit woke up again in the Hearthland and the ghost of Atlantis arose on North America, so in the Mediterranean arose again the spirit of Ulysses to sail the sea again and kiss again the coasts. But Ulysses, coming back to Ithaca and finding it full of invaders, will take again his bow in order to finally acheive justice.