Italy took over the presidency of the group of seven advanced countries (G7) on Monday, at a time when the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and the crisis in the Taiwan Strait, as well as serious challenges such as terrorism, pandemics or artificial intelligence (AI), highlight the question of the international order established after the end of the Cold War, EFE and Agerpres report.

At this critical moment for world geopolitics, according to experts, Japan is handing over to Italy the leadership of the seven richest countries in the world, which would reach a very difficult consensus spread over the G20, necessary to confront new threats.

The task seems daunting, if not impossible, for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney, who has carefully prepared to present Italy’s best image.

The decisive moment

The powder keg in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine, relations with the Global South, Africa and migration and the connection between artificial intelligence (AI) and democracy will be the topics of the summit of world leaders, which will take place on June 13. 15 in the Apulia region (south), a carefully selected frame.

“It symbolizes the embrace between East and West and is the best way to overcome the discourse of the West on one side and the rest of the world on the other,” Maloney explained.

The summit will take place after a series of events that confirmed last year that the world is no longer stable: the war in Ukraine, the crisis in the Taiwan Strait, the war in Nagorno-Karabash and the aggression of Hamas and Israel’s response. , notes EFE.

“The strategic documents of the great powers, NATO, the EU, speak of threats that endanger the survival of the order established at the end of the Cold War and the security of the states that guaranteed it,” Gabriele Natalicia, professor of security and politics at the University of Rome, explains to EFE international Sapienza.

The danger comes from Russia and China, “revisionist states” that are nevertheless needed to confront the challenges of “non-state actors such as terrorism” and “transnational phenomena: pandemics, migration, AI, climate change.”

war

“It is clear that the issue of foreign policy is the most divisive,” says Alberto Vannucci, a professor at the University of Pisa. In statements to EFE, Vannucci draws attention to “one of the biggest mysteries” of the coming months: “What will happen to Kyiv’s support?”, due to the “lack of results (Ukraine on the front) and new scenarios from the Middle East” adds to “the fatigue of the West.”

It is clear that the decision to start the process of Ukraine’s accession to the EU is a powerful political support for Kyiv, but it remains to be seen how this support will be reflected on the front. “I would not rule out that the possibility of negotiations will begin to be discussed at the June summit,” Natalia believes.

“The war has been going on for a long time, the price is high,” he notes and mentions the US presidential election as a crucial element, while Vannucci believes that it will depend on Maloney’s “perseverance” to ensure that Ukraine does not become a peripheral subject.

In the Middle East, where there have been decades of conflict, the G7 and the EU have shown much more disagreement than with Ukraine because “there is broad support for the bastion of Western democracy in the region, namely Israel.”

At the same time, there cannot be “indifference to the excessive reaction (of Israel) against the civilian population in one of the most densely populated areas on the planet and to the risk (that such a reaction) plays the game of extremists,” says the Italian expert, who emphasizes “general caution in accepting clear positions” and believes that it will be “very difficult for Maloney to reach a consensus.”

Maloney’s Guide

But after a little more than a year in office, the Italian prime minister is a consolidated political figure and will not miss the opportunity of the G7 to show the world “the new face of the Italian leadership”.

“Despite the difference in political color, Maloney has the best relations in the last decade with the US and Germany and has established close ties with the EU, no matter what,” says Natalia, who believes that Italy presides over the G7 “from the right cards, to play that role,” although he does not forget to mention the biggest risk facing the current executive and any Italian government: “internal instability.”

If on an internal level “it is characterized by the failure to fulfill campaign promises”, then Maloney is also noted for her “great communication skills” and “because she quickly makes difficult decisions”, as when “she broke up with her partner and the father of her daughter on Instagram after of how his sexual conversations with a colleague got into the media, explains Vannucci.

Meloni “has shown leadership skills, that she knows how to manage tension well, that is indisputable,” admits the Italian political scientist, who also believes that the “biggest problem” of the Italian prime minister is the “very questionable characteristics” of his government team.