Back and forth in Italy
Just when it seemed safe to take to the water, the ground at home began to shake
ITALY has long been an oddity: economic giant and political pygmy. That the world's fifth-biggest economy should cut such a paltry figure on the world stage owes much to the chronic instability of its governments. With administrations coming and going every nine or ten months, there was never time to draw up a foreign policy, let alone implement one. Italians have never seemed to mind very much. They have influenced the world in other ways—through design, music, cooking and emigration.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Back and forth in Italy”
From the April 12th 1997 edition
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