Italy has been faced with a number of economic, political, and social challenges (the Naples rubbish crisis and the collapse of Alitalia to name but two) with most of its European allies turning their back. Now the United States, Italy’s strongest bilateral ally, has elected a president who left Italian’s insulted by leaving Rome out of his tour of key allied capitals. Leaders around the world would do well to remember that although it is no longer the case that all roads lead to Rome, much still flows from it.

While Obama has bypassed Italy, he has stated that "France, Germany and the United Kingdom are key anchors of the transatlantic alliance and have contributed to the mission in Afghanistan, and I look forward to discussing how we can strengthen our partnership in the years to come." But wasn’t Italy one of the view European nations to offer political and military support in Iraq, when the US was under unwavering criticism for its ‘imperialist’ actions? Moreover, Italian troops have given their lives in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and have an extremely good record in peacekeeping missions. Italy is also leading the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, a difficult and dangerous role.

So then why has Obama chosen to treat such a useful ally in this way? The only answer can be that his ego has got the better of him. Berlusconi’s endorsement of John Mc Cain, and his description of Obama as “young, handsome and even tanned”, is evidently enough for the next leader of the free world to turn his back on one of America’s longest standing and most diplomatically useful allies. There is no doubt that what Berlusconi said is insulting and completely unacceptable, but there is a difference between being angry with a single man, and being angry with a country. Berlusconi’s words represented no diplomatic or economic change in relationship between Italy and the United States. Rather they are the words of a slightly unhinged leader.

There is no doubt that Italy’s economic situation is deteriorating, but revolution is in the air. The economic downturn is forcing complacent Italian politicians to consider reform. What many fail to remember, is that for all the lack of economic and political infrastructure in Italy, the nation has still managed to maintain an economic prowess sufficient to be a member of the G8. Furthermore, with Italy being one of the few nations that has good relations with both Israel and the Islamic world, its diplomatic ability will undoubtedly be of significant use in trying to put an end to conflict in the Middle East, especially in light of the recent violence in the Gaza Strip. You would have assumed that a US president with such limited foreign policy experience would be grateful to any ally that could potentially assist in such an important challenge. It seems not.

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