'A Balance of Power that Favors Freedom'. The Historical and Ideological Roots of the Neo-Conservative Persuasion

The paper offers a genealogy of neoconservatism, concentrating on its ideological and historical foundations in the early 1970s. In the first part, it shows how neoconservatism represented a reaction to the crisis-real and perceived-the United States was undergoing, and an answer Cold War liberalism gave to Kissinger's realism, to the radicalism of the New Left and to the emerging theories of interdependence. In the second part, the paper examines the influence neoconservatives were able to exert on the foreign policy of George W. Bush, particularly after the terrorist attacks of September the 11th, 2001. It argues that neoconservatism, as a visionary and utopian form of 'crisis internationalism', was ideally fit to dominate post 9/11 U.S. foreign policy discourse. But it underlines also the intrinsic limits and contradictions of the neoconservative project.power analysis

Toward a New International History

International history as a discipline has a solid and lasting background. This article identifies two aspects of a methodological discussion that has lasted over the years: the first is connected to the broadening of its objects of study; the second concerns the never-ending discussion on how historians' evolving views and perspectives have affected their approach and therefore the nature of the discipline itself. A further challenge, and disciplinary revision, seems to be under way today, as the field grapples with the demand to adopt a more «trans-national» and/or «global» approach. By identifying the opportunities and limits of these changes, the article calls for a «new and mestized international history», founded on some of the most solid elements of its tradition (beginning with the centrality of the State in the structure of international power), but capable of incorporating new approaches that connect the «micro» and «macro» dimensions

A European Solution for a European Crisis. The International implications of Portugal's Revolution

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Dollars, Arms, Words: Barack Obama and the Dilemmas of American Hegemony

This article discusses the foreign policy of Barack Obama and the basic elements and contours of what can be described as a putative “Obama Doctrine”. It argues that, while never precisely stated and outlined, this doctrine constituted an attempt to come to terms with the final manifestation of some ingrained and, after the 2008 global economic crisis, inescapable contradictions and flaws of the model of hegemony the United States had built and projected since the 1970s. To address this novel situation, and the multiple arcs of crisis the U.S. was facing, a radical strategic, diplomatic and discursive shift was needed. Cognisant of it, Obama pursued this change, although not always consistently or successfully, achieving results that appear all the more remarkable when compared with the foreign policies of his predecessor and, after almost two years in office, his successor

Solar Heating and Air-Conditioning by GSHP Coupled to PV System for a Cost Effective High Energy Performance Building

Abstract Energy requirements for new buildings show the strong direction given by UE Directives to improve energy performance in buildings according to economic feasibility. Nowadays it is possibile to const ruct new buildings reaching a substancial reduction in energy consumption containing prices and time for the construction. In architectural competitions are always included architectural, energy and economic parameters of quality which are decisive in the success of the project design. A Housing Contest to collect projects with high performance and low cost for residential buildings for the Municipality of Comune di Milano, Italy, and the future construtions in the local area was launched by the to involve architects and professionals on the future development of the urban landscape giving specific requirements to achieve high performance. These requirements were focused on energy quality, acoustic quality, quality of the building site, guaranteed time schedule, prefabrication, economic affordability in comparison with the market trend of costs. The project presented in the paper is one of the chosen building by the Municipality to represent a pilot project for possible future constructions. In the Contest all the design group were in team with a builder to verify and guarantee the costs of the construction. The high energy performance required coupled to the low cost assured by the projects gave the Municipality a good example of how is possible to fulfill quality levels recommended by EU Directives and national regulations. In the Contest a high energy performance for heating was compulsory. The project described in the following paragraphs not only fulfill this energy requirement but also is almost self-sufficiency since it provides the energy for heating, cooling and common electrical demand

Lecture11CouncilofEconomicAdvisers

primary source for our seminar discussion. read only pp.5-19 and 49-62. This doc replaces those of the Volker Grou

George W. Bush e le Tradizioni della Politica Estera Statunitense

Tavola rotonda su continuità e mutamenti della politica estera di George W. Bus