Articoli

• IL SOVRANISMO NELLE RELAZIONI INTERNAZIONALI
  Emidio Diodato Università per Stranieri di Perugia
  TITLE: Sovereigntism in international relations
  ABSTRACT
  This article investigates the contemporary re-emergence of political claims founded on the recognition of sovereignty (sovereigntism). After discussing sovereignty as a paradox or an organized hypocrisy, it focuses on two kind of sovereigntism: as a principle of domination and as a principle of emancipation. The first one is a claim of sovereignty that emerges in the regular struggle for political recognition between stronger and weaker powers. The second one is a claim of sovereignty that emerges in contrast to a perceived ex- ternal or illegitimate authority. In the first case, sovereigntism occurs when there are rising powers seeking recognition as great powers or dominant great powers seeking hegemony. In the second case, sovereigntism concerns the dynamics of globalization and supranational institutions and often regards the empowering the people. As the Brexit case shows, it is not always easy to distinguish between the two types of sovereigntism in practice.
  KEYWORDS: SOVEREIGNTY; SOVEREIGNTISM; INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM.
  
  
  
• IL DILEMMA DEL MULTILATERALISMO: WASHINGTON E IL MONDO, FRA IMPEGNO COLLETTIVO E “AMERICA FIRST”
  Gianluca Pastori Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano
  TITLE: The dilemma of multilateralism. Washington and the world between collective engagement and ‘America first’
  
  ABSTRACT
  Among the other aspects, the current US administration stands out for its difficult relation with the traditional multilateral fora, first of all the United Nations. In this field, its assertions have drawn general attention but have also often been downplayed as the product of a provocative president, who made of an abrasive rhetoric his favorite political tool. Quite the contrary, the attitude of the Trump administration on multilateralism mirrors a long-lasting feature of US foreign policy: the will to retain “free hands” when dealing with the world affairs. Such an attitude – which enjoys a wide bipartisan support – dates back to the very origins of the United States and can be traced (albeit in different forms) in the conduct of almost all the administrations. In this perspective, the supposed “Trump anomaly” seems not so anomalous. Rather, Donald Trump’s largely negative attitude toward the liberal international order that the US promoted and supported during the Cold War seems coherent with the evolution that US foreign policy underwent since early 1990s. The cleavage between the Us and their European allies is, at the same time, one of the reasons and one of the products of this evolution. US unwillingness to car- ry the burden of hegemony makes the transatlantic relation less and less important while the weakening of the US-Europe link weakens the main pillar of the “old” world order. It is hard to foresee the result of this process; however, odds are that it will not stop with the end of the Trump presidency. Probably, it will not result in the disposal of the liberal institutions but in their “opportunistic” use, more or less in line with Madeleine Albright’s “assertive multilateralism”, according which, when acting with others, the US should take the lead in establishing goals, but without precluding unilateral action in safeguard of what they perceive as their vital interests.
  KEYWORDS: US FOREIGN POLITICS; LIBERAL WORLD ORDER; MULTILATERALISM/UNILATERALISM
  
  
  
• L’INESSENZIALITÀ DELLA SOVRANITÀ NELLA CRITICA ALL’“ALL ABSORPTIVE STATE” DI HAROLD J. LASKI: PER UNA SOCIETÀ PLURALISTA
  Alice Marras Università degli Studi di Cagliari
  TIITLE: For a Pluralist Society. The Inessentiality of Sovereignty in Harold J. Laski’s Critique of the absorptive State
  
  ABSTRACT
  The paper focuses on Harold J. Laski’s political philosophy with particular reference to the critique of sovereignty, understood as a concept depending from market economy and politically imperialism, with the aim of preserving a pluralistic and free society. From an historical point of view, Laski pointed out that modern sovereignty was unthinkable in the Middle Ages, an epoch characterized by supranational harmony, and is considered, in the modern age, a progenitor of impalpable barriers that end up parce- ling the universal. In Laski’s view, sovereignty spreads a false impression of social unity, legitimizing a State-action behind which particular interests are hidden. It is therefore necessary to contrast, primarily in its internal dimension, the protagonism of the modern sovereign State, which represents an absorbing whole that destroys the lively multiplicity of human relations. Secondly, it is necessary to combat the Hegelian paradigm of international law as external State law, in an attempt to build a peaceful society. This implies both a new internal political order, capable of making decisive the plural social formations that compose the State – such as small groups and associations – and a new international organization. Faced with a globalization that seems to divide the world in an increasingly unequal way, and allows identitarian, autonomist and secessionist claims to grow, Laski’s reflection today presents itself with a disarming actuality.
  KEYWORDS: HAROLD J. LASKI; PLURALISTIC THEORY OF THE STATE; STATE SOVEREIGNTY.
  
  
  
• LEGGERE SCHMITT A RAQQA DOPO LA FINE DELL’ISIS Un’interpretazione geografica della “teoria del partigiano” per capire il terrorismo jihadista
  Ugo Gaudino University of Kent
  TITLE: Reading Schmitt in Raqqa after the collapse of the Islamic State. A geographical interpretation of the “theory of the Partisan” to understand jihadi terrorism.
  
  ABSTRACT
  The article investigates the hermeneutical potentiality of the category of the “partisan” described by Carl Schmitt for a refined analysis of the contemporary jihadi movements. In the first two sections I shed light on the most fruitful insights provided by the German jurist about the alteration of warfare in international law, the collapse of the “ius publicum europaeum” and the rising tide of political subjects which tear apart the Westphalian schemes. The “partisans” show either a deep commitment to the local/ national dimension or a global/revolutionary worldview. I argue that this distinction might be useful to draw a line between some jihadi groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Nonetheless, I contend that the boundaries among jihadi political subjects are more blurred and thus they eschew the strict categories identified by Schmitt. In conclusion, I hold that the option between a local or a global agenda depends on tactical reasons, political opportunities and on the geographical contexts rather than on a clear and un- questionable ideological pattern.
  KEYWORDS: THEORY OF PARTISAN; JIHADISM; TERRORISM.
  
  
  
• SOVRANITÀ DISLOCATE: FOUCAULT CONTRO IL LEVIATANO
  Claudo Ciani Istituto Unintess
  TITLE: Displaced sovereignties: Foucault against the Leviathan.
  
  ABSTRACT
  Michel Foucault’s research is one of the most innovative and interesting experiments of political thought beyond Leviathan. Indeed, Foucault argues for the need to abandon a model of analysis of power based on the central role of state sovereignty and its predominantly repressive action («What we need is a political philosophy that is not built around the problem of sovereignty, therefore of the law, therefore of interdiction. We must cut the king’s head: it has not yet been done in political theory»). For Hobbes, on the contrary, the sovereign power is absolute (legibus solutus), otherwise it cannot be defined sovereign, and the modern rule of law is born thanks to a pact between the associates in order to overcome the state of nature in which men find themselves to have all of them the same rights over everything and engage in a war that sees everyone against all (bellum omnium contra omnes). These are two models of analysis of the concept of “sovereignty”, and therefore of power, apparently opposed to each other but actually displaced on different levels and, therefore, superimposable. This article aims to highlight the salient features of the two paradigms of “sovereignty” in Foucault and Hobbes.
  KEYWORDS: SOVEREIGNTY; POWER; NATION-STATE.
  
  
  
• NEW MEDIA, OLD NARRATIVES? MYANMAR’S INTERNET BOOM AND THE SPREAD OF ANTI- ROHINGYA PROPAGANDA ON SOCIAL MEDIA
  Andrea Passeri University of Bologna
  
  ABSTRACT
  The article untangles the impact of Myanmar’s ongoing internet boom in terms of the perpetuation of a State-sponsored ideology rooted in an ethno-nationalist paradigm of citizenship, which is ultimately aimed at creating a clear demarcation be- tween the country’s Bamar-Buddhist majority and a wide array of minority groups. In such perspective, the repercussions unleashed by the rapid spread of social media amongst the Burmese population seem nowhere more visible than in the recent evolution of the Rohingya conundrum, that is paving the way for the emergence of a plethora of trolls and “keyboard armies” backed by governmental authorities with the precise intent of advancing a dehumanising narrative against minorities. Accordingly, after having examined the crucial milestones ingrained in the country’s political transition and the enduring relevance displayed by ethno-nationalism, the analysis shifts on the key drivers and demographics involved in the astonishing surge of digital devices among Burmese citizens, while also considering the main loopholes in the normative framework erected in recent years in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Finally, the last paragraph looks at the role of the digital realm in the midst of the current revamp of the Rohingya crisis, arguing that Myanmar is progressively tilting from the previous system based on the active suppression of any dissenting voice, to a new environment characterized by the harassment, scapegoating, and self-censorship of those who do not conform with the concept of Burmese identity as portrayed by the State. With regards to the key drivers involved in the flourishing of ethno-nationalist sentiments amongst Myanmar’s netizens, the investigation thus contends that the country’s long-standing reliance on xenophobic and assimilationist policies, together with the rapid dissemination of ICTs in a framework characterized by low levels of digital literacy and normative weaknesses, loomed very large in producing such a worrisome trend.
  KEYWORDS: MYANMAR’S IDENTITY POLITICS; ROHINGYA CRISIS; SOCIAL MEDIA.
  
  
  
• LA SOVRANITÀ DIGITALE EUROPEA: CONQUISTE E SFIDE
  Gabriele Suffia ISAG
  TITLE: The European digital sovereignty: achievements and challenges
  
  ABSTRACT
  The aim of this paper is to analyse the issue of sovereignty with particular reference to the digital world that is emerging at the dawn of the 20s of the 21st century, and in particular in the light of the continentalization of infrastructures and digital ser- vices according to the hubs and multipolar spokes. In particular, the European Union can aspire to play a global role if it is going to be able to preserve/build its digital sovereignty. In the dynamic world created by digital globalization, it is recognized by researchers that connectivity is not only the greatest engine for the development of human relations, but also the main instrument for controlling them. The European Union is also moving in the same direction. Starting from the initiatives of the “EU’s digital single market” adopted in 2018, of which we will briefly give an account, we will illustrate the European path of the last decade to affirm its own sphere of digital sovereignty, distinct from the USA and also from China. The European integration model is built around the digital dimension to guarantee “freedom and rights” and “freedom and security”. In this perspective, the issue of citizens’ freedom remains the central pivot around which the concept of sovereignty can be anchored, called to face the new challenges of the globalization of movements and prob- lems. Unable to be divorced from global dynamics, the unprecedented European model of “related sovereignties” is the reference point for the development of entire areas of the globe, from South America to the Middle East and Africa.
  KEYWORDS: EUROPEAN SOVEREIGNTY; EUROPEAN E-DEMOCRACY; TRENDS IN DIGITAL AGE.
  
  
  
• STATE- NATION- E DEMOCRACY-BUILDING: IL “DILEMMA” TRA EFFICACIA E LEGITTIMITÁ
  Giuseppe Casale LUMSA
  TITLE: State- nation- and democracy-building: The “dilemma” between effectiveness and legitimacy
  
  ABSTRACT
  This paper analyzes the main international state-building models aimed at solving the troubles of contemporary fragile states by considering the consistency be- tween the objectives and the practical effects of their approaches. The first part identifies a preliminary critical aspect in the plurality and simultaneity of actors, aims and methods in the agendas of contemporary international state-building. The second part rational- izes the adherence of the main approaches to two fundamental paradigms, based on the relationship between effective governance and legitimacy, that is, between the strategy of investing primarily on state capacity and the one that promotes the adhesion of the local society to the political system. The third part translates them into the relationship between state-building and democratization, to relativize the thesis “stateness first!” that affirm the absolute priority of a functional empowerment of the state, which in turn shapes the subsequent pursuit of a “not premature” democracy. The aim is to realize in what terms democratic legitimacy can be a driver of change, to strengthen the state and its performances and to promote the essential cohesion for a nation-building, instead of being an outcome of them. The fourth part applies the previous analyses to two cases of international state-building (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo): it pays attention to “state capture” as paradoxical and unintended consequence of the approaches that, relying on the spillover effect of the effectiveness enhancement, could end up sacrificing some substantial elements of internal legitimacy and facilitating dysfunctionalities that can jeopardize the overall goals of the mission. The method is based on “congruence analysis” to provide empirical grounds to the phenomena detected by the theoretical problematizations, instead of seeking rigorous causal links in order to affirm etiological generalizations.
  KEYWORDS: INTERNATIONAL STATE-BUILDING; DEMOCRATIZATION; STATE CAPTURE.
  
  
  
• IL POST-MODERNO E IL BISOGNO DI NUOVE NARRAZIONI POLITICHE
  Daniele Di Tommaso Università della Valle d’Aosta
  TITLE: Postmodernism and the need of new political tellings
  
  ABSTRACT
  This paper aims to examine the different interpretations of the concept of post-modern and to investigate its political implications, even in a future perspective. Numer- ous interpretations around this concept have flourished. Some have understood postmodernity as an opportunity for the West to overcome the narratives of modernity. Based on the idea of a continuous progress of science and humanity, in view of the fulfillment of ideals that have turned out to be very negative, they would have collapsed today, leaving space for an era in which inter- pretations predominate over the great factual truths. Others, on the other hand, believe that the postmodern is nothing but modernity taken to the extreme, in which capitalism reaches its most extreme and globalized configuration. The postmodern, in reality, is not to be understood as a new paradigm, but rather as a transitional phase, towards a new great ethical-political narrative, in which national states are absorbed into a larger project, on a planetary level, which is governed by the principle of subsidiarity, so as to satisfy both the tendencies to maintain local institutions and cultures, and to enjoy the advantages of globalization, also in relation to the resolution of major issues, such as environmental ones, which cannot be managed exclusively at regional or local level. What we can hope for is therefore a new enlightenment that allows the overcoming of what can be understood as an era of political experimentation, in analogy with the medieval era, the postmodern.
  KEYWORDS: POST-MODERNISM; NATIONAL STATES; POLITICAL TELLING.
  
  
  
• IL RACCONTO DELLA BREXIT E LA CRISI DELLA DEMOCRAZIA RAPPRESENTATIVA NEL REGNO UNITO
  Luca Mencacci Università telematica “Guglielmo Marconi”
  TITLE: The Brexit story and the crisis of representative democracy in the United Kingdom
  
  ABSTRACT
  The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, also known as the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom to ask the electorate if the country should remain a member of, or leave the European Union (EU). The result resulted in 51.9% of votes being in favor of leaving the EU. Regardless of the outcome, the referendum was the latest and probably most dramatic expression of long- term social changes that have been reshaping political behavior and party competition in Britain. In this essay, we consider the irresponsible behavior of all the protagonists in- volved: the politicians’ ambitions and of the citizens’ indifference who set the Brexit process going. While the lack of a clear narrative has divided the nation, the confusion generated by the vote is considered a paradigm of the postmodern political condition.
  KEYWORDS: BREXIT; POSTMODERN POLITICAL CONDITION; REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY.