Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: Italy in Albania

 follow is promoting order by supporting the current government. [...]
I find your remark very interesting.  I too am afraid that the military
mission may end up in supporting Mr. Berisha's government.
I would like to list (in no particular order) and comment some of the
conceivable motivations for an Italian (and European) intervention in
Albania:
1.  Giving humanitarian aid, and providing military protection to this
operation.  This is both the official motivation given by the Italian
govmt. and the one that is probably shared by most Italians (IMHO).
2.  Re-establishing order.  This implies recovering firearms from the
population.  This is also one of the official motivations, and clearly it
implies a deeper and more substantial interference of the mission with
Albanian politics.  Re-establishing order of course would be beneficial
to the Albanians' safety and well-being, and is a prerequisite of
democratic elections.  On the other hand, it's difficult to impose order
without interfering in the political strife.
3.  Stopping the refugees before they board the ships.	I think this has
been proposed explicitly by right-wing politicians and is likely to be
shared by their followers.
4.  Supporting the present government.	This is _not_ an offical
motivation. However, The Italian government has supported Mr. Berisha
until this revolt. Since the beginning of the revolt, the Italian gvmt.'s
position has been unclear, as far as I see (which is not too far :) ). 
The right-wing parties recognize Mr. Berisha as the only legitimate
authority, while other parties believe that his opposers, including the
insurgents' leadership, should also be recognized.  Some add that Mr.
Berisha's resignation is a prerequisite for the re-establishment of peace
and democracy.	Please keep in mind that I am not very informed and I am
only trying to sketch the situation as I perceive it.  I am interested in
what is going on, but I am neither a newsman or a politician!
5.  Protecting Italian economic interests in Albania.  Of course, this is
_not_ an official motivation.  But Italian business people operating in
Albania have openly requested assistance.  I don't know if they asked
explicitly for military protection, and I doubt it -- but I think
military assistance was implicit.  I am sorry to say that there are
probably both legal and illegal economic interests.
6.  Showing that Italy is capable of having an autonomous role in the
international arena -- a test of adulthood, or perhaps of manhood.  I
think this weighs a lot in the Italian gvmt.'s decisions.  Politicians
from all parties (excluding the extreme left) talk about ``assuming
responsibilities'', ``not losing one's face'' and so on.  I am afraid
this motivation is also shared by many Italians.
Well, I guess ather motivations are conceivable, but they are probably
variations on the themes above.
Greetings,
Andrea Domenici
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
 
http://www.dejanews.com/
     Search, Read, Post to Usenet



Manchester is playing its part by sending its Italian Consul to
Albania.  That should sort them out!
Colin Bearfield
Kind regards
Colin