Venice can tackle the challenges posed by climate change through an integrated approach to the resilience of coastal communities facing natural disasters. The research project (…)Aspen Award 2025 – Award ceremony
Nuclear power is entering a new phase, in which it is again assuming a central role on both the geopolitical and energy levels. The growing (…)The new nuclear era. Risks and opportunities
Donald Trump’s first official address as 47th president of the United States was preceded by a post-election analysis full of heated discussions. There was clear (…)Trump’s America and the new transatlantic relations
The events of the past four years, from global epidemics to armed conflicts, have highlighted how rapidly the sociopolitical conditions under which water is supplied, (…)A new water culture: climate change, efficiency, infrastructure and innovation
Europe is following the outcome of the 2024 elections in the United States – and all presidential elections of the twenty-first century – with intense interest. The reasons for that naturally include the fact that, despite its contradictory domestic socio-economic trends, the US is still the world’s only true superpower; Europe, on the other hand, finds itself struggling to cope with an accumulation of problems and weaknesses.
The contemporaneous outbreak of a series of crises across the world has led to the intensification of latent problems stemming from economic deglobalization. These underlie (…)Prospects for international economy: markets, corporations and political risks in an electoral year
2024 is going to be a crucial electoral year for Europe and the United States as they each face not only internal political issues but also the pressure of growing international tensions. The outcome of the elections will be the first major indication of whether the two shores of the Atlantic will continue to act in tandem, with no center or guide, in a manner marked by what has been defined “the age of the polycrisis”, or if existing divergences will widen further.
The 8th Aspen Institute Italia Award for scientific research and collaboration between Italy and the United States went to a study on a new synthetic (…)Aspen Institute Italia Award – Award Ceremony
There is ample consensus that a firm and cohesive response to the Russian attack on Ukraine must come from the international community, Europe in particular. There is also a clear awareness that neither punitive measures nor the supply of arms to Ukrainian forces are likely to radically impact the outcome of this military conflict.
The so-called “dual revolution” – digital and ecological – has begun, and is having a direct impact on the automotive sector and the entire industry it encompasses. The process combines global international commitments with specific political choices at European level even ahead of national level. The overall global context and the instability caused by the Ukraine war have inevitably complicated an already very complex transition.
The space industry is in rapid expansion. The space component is gaining importance in the defense sector, but dual-use technologies have become equally decisive with the massive development of instrumentation for observation of the Earth and its atmosphere within the context of environmental concerns. Meanwhile the rapid evolution of satellite communications toward the creation of satellite constellations has profound implications for the business and consumer services they can offer as well as for satellite navigation.
The relationship between human capital and development has been a topic of study since economic policy has existed. Nevertheless, training and skills enhancement have long been underestimated by theories that have foregrounded other productive factors as decisive to economic growth.
The bulk of the Recovery Plan’s massive investments are in the form of the Eurobonds with which the European Union plans to stimulate the continent’s post-pandemic economy. Nevertheless, their introduction – a proposal dating back to the late 1980s aimed at encouraging investments and infrastructure – could represent a veritable paradigm shift in EU policy. Fostering that, in the first place, would be the continent’s strategic autonomy in a range of sectors currently in need of a common vision with regard to protection and enhancement.
Today’s international scenario is distinguished by a strong interdependence of foreign policy and domestic priorities, particularly as a lever for economic development. The pandemic has once again confirmed the need for broad multilateral cooperation in the spirit of “build back better”. This in terms of sustainable transition (production as well as consumption) and fairness, along with the management of regional and global conflicts and tensions.
Aspenia 94 (in Italian), entitled “I nuovi dopoguerra”, analyzes the many complexities of the international economic picture. It is possible that the post-Covid era will open up scenarios similar to those of the 1970s, or even something resembling the “roaring Twenties” and its tragic epilogue, the Great Depression of 1929.
President Biden’s inauguration comes at a moment of serious division in the United States. Urgent domestic issues and a shifting international context have created some major challenges for the American leadership. Although he may be eager to put the “Trump factor” behind him with a long series of executive orders right from the start, the new president must also lay out a broader strategy.
In the July 21 agreement guaranteeing the arrival of resources from Europe in response to the economic consequences of Covid-19, strategic sectors such as infrastructure are to receive significant support. Nevertheless, a series of both technical and institutional complexities threaten to slow the distribution of these funds. The controversy that has developed around a mechanism that hinges on the rule of law is paradigmatic: both the so-called “frugal four” countries and Finland consider the theme central, in contrast to the bitter opposition of countries such as Poland and Hungary.
Orbital angular momentum microlaser[1] – A semiconductor laser of micrometric size that produces twisted light by exploiting an “exceptional quantum point”: this is the study that won the fifth edition of the Aspen Institute Italia Award for collaboration and scientific research between Italy and the United States.
Joe Biden is not going to have an easy launch into the White House. Not only because of the way Donald Trump’s behaving but, essentially, because the Democrats have lost several seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate run-off elections in Georgia on January 5th could award the two missing seats to the Republicans, creating a “divided government” that would make it very difficult for Biden to stick to his agenda – especially in terms of the economy.
The European Union has finally taken a vanguard position on green energy and climate change, approving major steps by other nations, such as China, Japan, South Africa, South Korea and the United States. The election of Joe Biden to the White House and the appointment of John Kerry as special climate envoy strongly suggest that transatlantic cooperation on the Green Deal, among other things, will be relaunched.
