What remains of Clinton’s US multilateralism
Who was there and what was said at the study day "The Clinton presidency and the new world order", organized by the Craxi Foundation
“Clinton is young and handsome. And it impresses women." Word of Yeltsin. The 90s, the short century. Carolina Di Stefano, professor at Luiss Guido Carli, begins with a colorful joke from the former Russian president which, however, gives a good idea of the good relationship that existed between Russia and the USA, when in Moscow they began to even think about entering in NATO, a process that did not go ahead, but which in any case "saw real support from overseas to Yeltsin".
The other great opportunity presented itself further on with the Pratica di Mare agreement, which was designed by Silvio Berlusconi. But it was the 1990s, "the ones on which we rely, the bipolar decade that ended with 11 September", recalls Nicola Carnovale, secretary general of the Bettino Craxi Foundation, that the conference in the Zuccari hall of the Senate focused on.
Thirty years after the election of Bill Clinton as president of the United States, the Craxi Foundation organized a study day on The Clinton presidency and the new world order – A first historical reflection , sponsored by the Ministry of Culture.
“Thirty years is the time needed to start historicizing”, explains the Luiss political scientist, Giovanni Orsina, president of the historical-scientific committee of the Craxi Foundation. The figure of Clinton and those years of "multilateralism with the US at the centre", says Orsina, are analyzed in thematic sessions. These are the "years of globalization, of liberalism, however declined above all on an economic, not a political level", observes Margherita Boniver, president of the Foundation established in 2001 by Stefania Craxi, senator of Forza Italia, president of the Foreign Affairs and Defense commission of Palazzo Madama, present at the study afternoon, dividing his presence with that in the classroom for the votes that take place at the same time.
Experts and scholars alternate, from Massimo Bucarelli, Leopoldo Nuti to Guido Samariani. In order, says a note from the Craxi Foundation, to "start an initial historical reflection on a period rich in events and characterized by profound transformations that characterize the final glimpse of the 'Short Century', opening the doors to the new millennium and with it to a long phase of uncertainty and difficulty”.
In fact, Clinton's inauguration symbolically closes an era in world history. It is a passage between two periods, between two centuries, "marked by new ideologies and unprecedented guidelines that give rise to global dynamics, both of a political and cultural order and of an economic-commercial nature, destined to dominate public rhetoric in the coming decades". Years of “Clinton presidency optimism and activism,” says Orsina. A presidency that above all benefited the USA and which, as other scholars recall, nonetheless leaves important signs on the international scene, starting with the Balkan crises, such as the centrality of NATO in a role that is no longer just defense, but regulator of conflicts.
These are the years of Beijing's entry into the WTO. Years on the international scene that the Craxi Foundation intends to further address, dedicating, announces Carnovale, general secretary of the cultural institute, also reflections on a figure like that of the former Foreign Minister Gianni De Michelis and his work on the scenarios of the Balkans. The 1990s, since basically still experienced as "yesterday", are a period still to be studied and historicized in order to better understand today's crises.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/presidenza-clinton-fondazione-craxi/ on Tue, 13 Dec 2022 06:55:08 +0000.