Word: berlusconi
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...Berlusconi is a seasoned politician (he was first in office in 1994, and he's the only European head of government born before World War II), and he knows that international misunderstandings don't harm him at home - and often quite the contrary. Those who criticize him don't vote for him anyway...
Does this make Italy an authoritarian state? Of course not. We are too anarchic to allow anyone to tell us what do for long (they all failed, from Caesar Augustus to Benito Mussolini). Berlusconi has won three elections, lost two, and democracy is alive and (almost) well. Italy is like a postmodern signoria - think the Sforza in Milan, the Medici in Florence - led by a benevolent elder well-liked by his subjects...
...Berlusconi a good Prime Minister? Let's just say he's not much worse than his predecessors, and he sells himself better. He hasn't solved Italy's perennial problems - runaway public debt, red tape, organized crime, corruption, a grinding justice system and aging infrastructure - but at least he's provided stability. Italy averaged almost a government a year between the end of World War II and the turn of the century. Berlusconi completed his term between 2001 and 2006; re-elected in 2008, he may well last until 2013. (Read: "Why Berlusconi Loves a Good Gaffe...
...truth is that Berlusconi is not only Italy's head of government, but the nation's autobiography. He combines generosity, inconsistency, acting talent, stamina, tactical lapses of memory and loyalty. He promises things he doesn't do, and does things he's never mentioned. His Italian opponents - even the best, the most honest and lucid - are right to worry. Not about Berlusconi himself. But about the Berlusconi inside them...
...Once the document and its objectives had been thoroughly watered down, it was of little wonder that leaders such as France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown all found more productive things to do rather than attend the EaP launch summit. (Watch a TIME video with Gordon Brown...