Lessons Learned

Do you think that Europe will move towards a common foreign policy?

I think that this is an absolute necessity, not only for Europe, but also for achieving an international balance of power. And I believe that we are making progress. That is, compared to ten years ago, there is beginning to be a European foreign policy.

One gets the sense as I listen to you that an important requirement for doing politics at the national level and at the international level is courage. We don't have enough courage among political leaders in the West, or, to say it better, we should have more. Would you agree with that?

Yes. Without a doubt I would say that politics needs courage in order to explore new ground, with respect to the things that we have already learned and with respect to more traditional ideas. There is always a risk, a danger, for politicians to explore new ground. There is always the risk of failure. Yet, in standing still, failure is assured. I believe that this need to have the courage to take risks is very strong.

How would you advise students to prepare for the future, if they want to go into politics?

I believe that at this moment politics is not attracting very many young people. Yet we have a great need for young people to get excited about politics. I would advise young people interested in political life to get to know the world. Our training was very restricted, very provincial. There was the idea that in order to learn politics you needed to do politics, starting with a basis in political activism. Today, I think that we need a generation that comes to politics after having studied and known the world.

If a young person were to watch the video of this interview, what lesson would you recommend they learn from this very fascinating odyssey that you have taken as a political leader?

When I was a young Italian Communist, I would have never dreamed of having the kind of life I have led -- leading a government, which included an ex-governor of the Bank of Italy, a government that, together with the United States, went to war, as we did in Kosovo. If I really had to think back to the time when I was a young Communist representative, if someone would have said something like this to me, I would have laughed. I would have considered it a joke, or a provocation.

Above all, our political development shows that politics is a fascinating adventure, open and unforeseeable. The important thing is to have a basic consistency. By this I mean ideological consistency, a consistency of principles and of values. I would say that this is important: being open to politics as a fascinating experience, unexplored and rich with possibilities, and at the same time, to experience it remaining faithful to the principles and values that you work toward.

Well, on that very positive note, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much for visiting the Berkeley campus and for participating in this fascinating interview. Thank you.

Thank you.

And thank you very much for joining us for this Conversation with History.

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