Biden with Italy, with Europe. Against populism he rediscovers national unity
«This meeting on the elections in America– explained Ambassador Giampiero Massolo–, is the first webinar of the newly-established Eurispes Observatory for International Issues. The Observatory was born from the idea we had with President Gian Maria Fara to open the Institute to external realities and understand how the world conditions, how it affects our country, and how it contributes to defining our national interest. Eurispes has always been concerned with looking after and promoting knowledge of the Italian national interest, and certainly this international dimension will be very qualifying and very useful for the Institute. The theme is: what future for Italy-US relations after the election of Biden».
Armando Varricchio, Italian Ambassador to Washington, is convinced that: «The priority of the Biden administration will certainly be to rebuild the country, so the new President’s work will focus mainly on what is a domestic side, on how to recompose the racial divide in the first place. Focusing on the domestic politics of the country will give him the opportunity to look outward in a different way. America has changed over the course of the various presidencies, just as the world has changed, and this imposes greater challenges on our Europe, which must assume greater responsibility. Italy has a twofold responsibility: one has to do with its strength as an ally that has contributed to America’s success; the other has to do with the role that Italy has in Europe, a strong role, as a founding country, and it must serve to bring the European Union into a mature relationship with the United States».
According to the Minister for European Policies, Vincenzo Amendola: «The Democratic Party has changed, it has souls, very different configurations. Biden has managed, on the unity of values, to build an alternative. Alongside the unity of values against the polarisation of positions that have taken root over the last 10 years, there will also be a great deal of work to be done on inequalities.
Trump’s hold on the heartland of the United States, that idea of the losers deciding to become masters again in their own homes, cannot be regarded as a passing fever. What we need is a congress of the West, to come out of that depression of the defeated West and understand that within this global society our alliance has a strength not only because of its normative capacity to build a new multilateralism that is not based on the logic of the strongest, but also to build into our economies elements of the fight against inequality. A large part of success is to occupy the centre of the political debate by recovering the element of unity of the nation. It will be necessary to look at America as we look at Europe, even in its fragilities. And the fragility I see is one of inequalities that have polarised and fractured our societies to a great extent. Europe must immediately find a solid ally to build globally balances that have long since broken down».
Maurizio Molinari, editor-in-chief of la Repubblica explains that «Biden’s America will bring a wealth of ideas and energy that can strengthen, consolidate and relaunch the West as well. On the domestic front on the issue of responding to populism (“what is the recipe for beating the populists?”). Biden’s recipe is to create a bipartisan alliance on national values. Biden unites because he can speak to the opposing souls of the country. Populism is a protest movement and Biden’s answer is unity. This approach is very similar to what Labour Party Secretary Starmer is riding on in Britain. The British Labour Party and the American Democratic Party, through national paths, arrive at the same bipartisan recipe that aims at the centre of the electorate and to unite all those who are not populists. This is a recipe that can go a long way in Europe too, which also explains the importance that many European leaders are giving to Biden’s victory. Another key aspect is the response to the pandemic. Biden’s first messages were very clear: “we must heal America”, he created a task force, he made it clear that economic recovery will come through the defeat of the pandemic. In order to rebuild, a wound must be healed, which is that of healthcare. This, too, may be a recipe destined to find great favour in Europe».
Giovanna Pancheri, US correspondent for SkyTG24 (TBC) points out instead that: «The current mood in America is one of nervousness, caused by the prolongation of the transition phase. There is beginning to be concern about what the consequences might be for national security. People are still trying to work out what the transition path from one president to the next might be. There is a mixed feeling: among the people there is a lot of enthusiasm, while in the administration there is beginning to be some concern. A very important weight, even in this bumpy path of transition, is that the President-elect immediately had the recognition of the whole Europe and the allies».
