For Italy Is Putin Strictly Business? Then Poland Shops for the Best Missiles

James Hansen

Americano della West Coast, vivo in Italia da molti anni. Sono arrivato, giovane, nel servizio diplomatico USA come vice console a Napoli. Lì ho capito che “da grande” non volevo fare l’ambasciatore. Sono passato al giornalismo come corrispondente dell’International Herald Tribune e del Daily Telegraph, in seguito spostandomi “dall’altra parte della scrivania” come capoufficio stampa di Olivetti, di Fininvest e infine di Telecom Italia. Da tempo mi occupo di “diplomazia privata”, accompagnando grandi aziende italiane nelle loro avventure internazionali. È la diplomazia che mi immaginavo da ragazzo, con obiettivi più o meno chiari e i mezzi e l’autonomia per perseguirli. An American from the West Coast, I have been living in Italy for many years. I got here young, with the diplomatic service as the US vice consul in Naples. There I realized that, as a grown up, I didn't want to be an ambassador. I turned to journalism as a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and the Daily Telegraph, and later on, I moved to the “other side of the desk” as chief of press for Olivetti, Fininvest and finally Telecom Italia. I deal with "private diplomacy", backing up large Italian companies in their international adventures. It's the diplomacy as I imagined it when I was young, with more or less clear goals and the means and autonomy to pursue them.