A View from Italy: Out of the Comfort Zone

Germany is slowly coming of age. For over a decade now, it has been described as Europe’s reluctant hegemon. Its hegemony, premised upon economic strength, has become increasingly apparent over the years. Its reluctance instead has taken different forms, from a knee jerk abhorrence of military interventions abroad to an unwillingness to act and not simply think European in the advancement of the EU project. On European matters, that reluctance is fading. [...]