creating a new italian army: more weapons, fewer man

Belgrade Centre for Security Policy |www.bezbednost.org
ANALYSIS
BCSP | [email protected] | Gundulićev venac 48 | 11000 Belgrade
Diego Scarabelli
CREATING A NEW ITALIAN ARMY:
MORE WEAPONS, FEWER MAN
About author:
Diego Scarabelli is a guest
researcher at the Belgrade Centre
for Security Policy and an MPhil
candidate at the Italian Department,
University College of London (UCL).
He holds an MSc in Comparative
European Politics from Trinity
College Dublin (2009-2010) and an
MA in Modern European Studies
from UCL (2010-2011).
Contact:
[email protected]
Topics:
 Vision of the New Italian
Defence Forces
 Italian Defence Reform
 Italian army and the EU
 Development of the Italian
Military
May 2012
The reform of the Italian military forces proposed by Defence Minister
Admiral Di Paola aims at creating an army that is more capital oriented
with a decreased human factor. The proposal will be beneficial for the
development of the Italian forces in general and will not affect its
allies. The only exception is connected to the Italian Navy that, due to
cuts in the defence budget, will be extensively affected and may not
be capable of maintaining its current standards. The proposal of the
Defence Minister focuses only on external threats and does not take
into account the internal security threats that Italy is facing. It seems
that Di Paola overlooked the necessity of restructuring the Carabinieri
– gendarmes who are under his control, and who counter fight the
internal threats.
Introduction
The current economic crisis has deeply affected the Republic of Italy. This difficult economic
situation finally brought to the toppling, on 16th November 2011, of the government led by
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Mario Monti was appointed by President Giorgio Napolitano
as the new Prime Minister. Monti’s main task was to save Italy from the risk of budgetary
failure. To achieve this target, he formed a so-called ‘technical government’ with its ministers
being ‘technicians’ rather than ‘politicians’. Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola was appointed as
Defence Minister. All Italian Ministries had to perform cuts and reforms towards their internal
budgets and the Defence Ministry was no exception. On 15th February 2012, after three
months in office, Admiral Di Paola proposed his vision on how to reform the Italian military.
The Defence Minister’s idea can be summarised with the motto ‘fewer but more prepared
and equipped troops’.
1
The intention of this text is to analyse whether the proposed reforms will suit the defence
needs of Italy, and the effects that these reforms will have on the security and defence
strategy of the European Union (EU) and the United States. After this analysis, the paper
focuses on an aspect that seems to have been forgotten by the proposal of Admiral Di Paola:
the restructuring of the Carabinieri as a response to the internal security threats. The Defence
Minister only concentrated on external threats and neglected the internal ones. This is a
dangerous mistake in a country that is constantly facing terrorisations by the mafias.
Country
Defence Budget
as a percentage
of GDP 2010
Defence Related
1
Activities as a
percentage of GDP
2010
Italy
Great Britain
France
Germany
Spain
EU average
NATO suggested
standards
1,40%
2,56%
2,01%
1,34%
1,05%
1,61%
2%
0,9%
2,3%
1,7%
1,2%
0,7%
-
Expected
Spending in
Defence Related
Activities as a
percentage of
2
GDP 2012
0,84%
-
Sources: EDA Defence Data 2010; Commissioni Congiunte Difesa, Audizione del
Ministro della Difesa Giampaolo Di Paola, Senato della Repubblica, 15 febbraio 2012,
p.6; IAI.
The above data underline that Italy is far from investing as much in the defence sector as the
other major EU member states. The European states invest 26,458€ per soldier, while Italy a
mere 16,424€. Moreover, the defence expenditure should be subdivided as shown in the
Chart 1 below: 50% personnel expenditures, 25% for operation and maintenance, and 25%
for the investments.
Chart 1: Standards for subdivision of defence expenditures
1
The Defense Related Activities take into account the expenditures for personnel, training, acquisition and
maintenance of equipment, research and development (R&D), investment in military infrastructures. They do not
include the expenses for the pensions or -in the Italian case- the money invested in the Carabinieri who have
roles connected to civilian policing.
2
This information is available only for Italy. It is an estimation of Admiral Di Paola.
2
Di Paola described the Italian situation as very far from these standards: 70% personnel
expenditures; 12% operational capacity, and 18% for the investments (Chart 2).
Chart 2: Subdivision of defence expenditures in Italy
Admiral Di Paola thus decided to change how the funding at his disposal is spent. He
planned to have a better equipped and trained army, but smaller too. In the next 10 years,
the 70% spent on personnel should decrease to 50% in favour of the operational capacity
and investments that should both reach 25% (an increase of 13% for the former and of 7%
for the latter). Currently, the Italian military forces comprise 183,000 soldiers and 30,000 civil
servants. 3 The plan envisaged a reduction of 43,000 units: the objective would be to shrink to
150,000 soldiers and 20,000 civilians in 10 years. This will be a reduction of almost 20%.
Achieving the desired results in relation to the reduction of the personnel will be difficult.
This paper will not focus on how to achieve this target, but will rather try to understand if
this target is the most beneficial option for the Italian national defence. The next three
sections are dedicated to 1) the study of how the Italian forces will be restructured and how
the restructuring will affect the Italian defence, 2) how the USA perceive the reform
envisaged by the Italian Defence Minister, 3) how the Italian restructuring will affect the EU.
In the final part, the paper will discuss potential improvements that could be included with
this restructuring.
1. Vision of the New Italian Defence Forces
According to the Defence Minister, the Italian forces are ‘manpower intensive and
undercapitalised’. 4 The solution is to change this situation by increasing the capital (training
and equipment) and decreasing the human factor (personnel). Fewer soldiers and more
3
In this number is not calculated the Carabinieri used for national policing.
Commissioni Congiunte Difesa, Audizione del Ministro della Difesa Giampaolo Di Paola, Senato della
Repubblica, 15 febbraio 2012, p.7.
4
3
capable, less bureaucracy too, since many duplications would be cut off. Nevertheless, there
will be a diminution in the funding too, so the weapons will be more sophisticated, but
fewer. It is expected that: the number of Manoeuvre brigades will decline from 11 to 9;

tanks and armoured vehicles will decrease;

helicopters will diminish;

artillery and logistic units will be reduced;

in the Navy the coastal patrol units will decline (from 18 to 10 patrol boats), same
faith for the mine hunters and submarines (from 6 to 4);

in the Air Force the number of aircraft will be decreased.5
The number of vehicles is thus definitely going to be reduced. However, the proposal also
envisages some important developments:

quality improvement of the C4I (Comando e Controllo, Comunicazioni, Computer,
Informazioni) 6;

improved capabilities and training for the Special Forces;

acquisition of cyber capabilities and digitalisation of the ground forces;

modernisation of ships and helicopters;

empowerment of the ISTAR capabilities (Intelligence, Surveillance, Targeting
Acquisition and Reconnaissance) for a better terrestrial, maritime, and aerial
situational awareness, also an important requirement for the cooperation with NATO
and the European Union;

new attack aircrafts.7
The internal communication seems to be an important target of this reform. Admiral Di Paola
clearly aims at cutting down the duplications that are costly and time consuming. At the
same time, he also wants to improve the communication system by enhancing and
improving the use of new technology.
1.1. Cuts in the Army
The Italian Army will have to count on fewer tanks. The Defence Minister made this decision
since it is expected that this weapon will be used less and less in the international scenarios
in which Italy could be involved. Furthermore, thanks to the partnership with other EU
members and due to its geographical position, Italy seems to be capable of down turning
the number of its tanks without having to suffer internal defence and security repercussions.
Reducing the number of manoeuvre brigades, artillery and logistics units should not weaken
the Italian Army to the point that it could not effectively participate in international missions.
Improving the capabilities and equipment of the Special Forces seems a profitable strategic
5
Commissioni Congiunte Difesa, Audizione del Ministro della Difesa Giampaolo Di Paola, Senato della
Repubblica, 15 febbraio 2012, p.13.
6
Command and Control, Communications, Computer, Information.
7
Commissioni Congiunte Difesa, Audizione del Ministro della Difesa Giampaolo Di Paola, Senato della
Repubblica, 15 febbraio 2012, p.13.
4
choice since quick, responsive, and highly trained units resemble more and more the type of
soldier of the 21st century.
1.2. Cuts in the Navy
The cuts in the Navy, instead, seem to
have a decisively negative impact
towards Italian security. More advanceed ships do not seem to make up
for the fact that their number will be
drastically decreased: from 18 to 10
patrol boats and from 6 to 4 submarines. The land borders of the
Italian territory do not fear a potential
attack since Italy is bordering with EU
Lampedusa, Italy — People fleeing the unrest in Tunisia
member states and friendly Switzertransfer onto the Italian Navy’s amphibious transport dock
land. However, the sea borders need
MM San Marco. Source: Los Angeles Times
much more protection. The Arab Spring of 2011 has endangered the security situation of the Mediterranean Sea. The number of
migrants increased steeply. Furthermore, Italy needed to protect its homeland too since the
air bombings against Libya were carried out from Italian bases. There was thus the need to
protect the national territory and rescue migrants at the same time. The Air Force
demonstrated its ability to defend the Italian skies and obtain air superiority if needed. But,
when it came to helping the migrants, the Italian Navy needed further support. Riots
exploded in the small island of Lampedusa that received and hosted many migrants. More
investment in the Navy is therefore needed in order to allow it to be more reactive in
rescuing and handling the migrant waves. The geographical position of Italy is strategically
important for the well-being of the EU since it has to patrol and intervene in the
Mediterranean area. Drastic reductions in the Navy’s capabilities seem thus dangerous and
the budget of the Coast Guard was not increased either. Admiral Di Paola tried to propose
the best solution with the means that he had. However, the massive undercut operated in
the Navy fleet can have dangerous repercussions and downgrade the status and maritime
power of Italy in the area.
1.3. Cuts in the Air Force
The Air Force will see a reduction of aircrafts, but it will receive the advanced F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter (JSF). The F-35 program probably best explains Admiral Di Paola’s vision for the
future. Italy will have fewer fighters, but they will be the most advanced ones. The F-35
program has been highly controversial and the Italian public has often wondered if such an
expensive aircraft is really what the country needed. All these polemics finally impacted the
number of fighters that Italy will acquire: from the expected 131, the Ministry opted to
purchase only 90. Although the F-35 JSF is an expensive program with an estimated unit cost
of $80 million, this stealth jet fighter is what Italy really needed.
5
The current Italian airpower – The Italian air fleet is obsolete and even too diversified. The Italian
8
arsenal comprises the Tornado, the F-16, the AMX, and the AV-8B. The lease of the F-16 from the
USAF expires in 2012. The Tornados are technologically surpassed and the same can be applied to
the AMX and the AV-8B. All these aircrafts will be dismissed in the next 15 years. Admiral Di Paola
wants to simplify everything by having a defence aircraft -the Eurofighter Typhoon- and an
offensive one -the F-35 JSF. The F-35 will then replace 3 different types of Air Force jets and
constitutes a Joint Program for the Italian forces too since it will be used both by the Air Force and
9
by the Navy.
Italy will also obtain important technological gains from its partnership with the USA. In the
military base of Cameri, Piedmont region, parts of the F-35 will also be produced providing a
positive impact on the Italian GDP. The F-35 JSF has been the most disputed defence
program for the Italian public due to its forecasted high price. However, it is a program that
will effectively and efficiently serve the Italian air power for the next 30 years. This program,
by reducing the number and type of planes and increasing their technology, perfectly
pinpoints Di Paola’s target of attaining higher operational capacity and investments in
Research and Development (R&D).
2. The Italian Defence Reform and the Pentagon
The reform of the Italian forces has a direct impact on its North Atlantic ally. Thanks to the
presence of several American military bases on Italian territory, Italy can count on further
defence protection in case of need. This aspect makes Italy enjoy a form of free riding in the
defence sector thanks to its cooperation with the USA. There is no current plan to remove
American forces from Italian territory. Nevertheless, the reduction of the Italian defence
budget and, most of all, a smaller Italian fleet are elements of concern for Washington. The
Pentagon sees Italy as a valuable ally, but the free riding in defence terms cannot be
stretched too much. The American bases provide stability to the Italian State and, at the
same time, need to receive stability. The Italian Air Force and Army can prevent air and land
attack that could affect American soldiers deployed in Italy. However, a smaller Italian Navy
raises high concerns towards the ability to shield American military installations. The
American Navy should not be the sole advanced and capable fleet to sail close to the Italian
coasts. More investments have thus to be provided. Nevertheless, this critique is not
addressed to the vision of Admiral Di Paola who did what he could with the money he had
for the maritime force, but to the Government itself that does not provide enough financial
support to this fundamental branch of the Italian forces.
2.1. US-Italy technological cooperation
Two more points have to be discussed in relation to the US-Italy defence axis: technological
cooperation and international missions. The technological cooperation amongst the two
countries is of a very high level especially thanks to the F-35 JSF project. Italy will learn
important know-hows from its Atlantic ally and will even produce parts of the future aircraft.
The US may resent the fact that Italy will purchase 41 jets less, but the cooperation with Italy
8
This is the Italian air power that combines Air Force and Navy.
The Navy will use the F-35B short take off and vertical-landing variant (for a total of 20 aircrafts), while the Air
Force will adopt the F-35A variant (for a total of 70 aircrafts).
9
6
is definitely promoting a new high level cooperation amongst the two countries.
Furthermore, we can notice that the F-35 will represent a ‘golden chain’ for American
industries since the Italian forces will employ it for at least 30 years so they will buy
replacements from American suppliers and acquire new technological enhancements. The F35 is so far the most prestigious and costly project that the two countries are sharing, but its
successes will definitely have a good impact on other shared projects amongst the two
states.
2.2. Italy’s Contribution to International Missions
Finally, in relation to the international missions, the reform of the Italian forces does not
seem to prevent Italy from effectively working into NATO missions. More equipped and
better prepared soldiers constitute a valuable asset for NATO international missions:
especially in a period in which the Special Forces represent more and more the solution to
critical problems. 10 But Italy has often been praised on the international stage for its peacekeeping forces. In fact, Italian forces are utilised more for maintaining peace rather than for
attack operations. The human factor is thus fundamental in this instance, but a smaller and
more intelligence-driven army could also be proficient in this task. Admiral Di Paola’s proposal seems
to preserve this ability of the Italian forces. But much
more can be done in this field: through higher
investments, the Italian State could hire more
Carabinieri that, being both soldiers and gendarmes,
could maintain public order in the regions in which
NATO is working. Counter insurgency operations
conducted by the Carabinieri could prove a key
International Security Assistance Force
commander Gen. John R. Allen and Italian
Minister of Defence Adm. Giampaolo Di
Paola. Source: ISAF NATO
component in the post-conflict stabilisation. Wars
can be won by Special Forces, but peace is preserved
and obtained thanks to stability that can be offered
by the Carabinieri.
3. The Italian Defence reform and the EU
Italy is the fourth major military power in the EU after Great Britain, France, and Germany. But
the Italian decision to decrease its forces does not signify a weakening of the EU military
might. An Italian, leaner and more efficient army can still work in close cooperation with its
European allies. And, if the European Union moves towards a federal solution in the future,
the absence of command duplications will also allow Italy to be integrated more swiftly into
a potential EU military force.
The Italian forces could be easily integrated in a European army of the future, but at the
moment it seems that Di Paola’s proposal was only steered by national targets and did not
take into account the European context. There is no doubt that the aim of the reform is to
increase the abilities of the Italian forces to work with all its European and Atlantic allies.
However, the proposal of the Italian Minister could have been shaped in a very different
form if the major EU powers came to an agreement on how to develop their military forces.
10
Italian Military Missions Abroad.
7
For example, Italy could have invested more in the Navy while other states could have
developed their land or air capabilities. A shared EU vision would have meant a redefinition
of the national defence and security targets in connection to the European ones. This task
was too much for a Defence Minister who just took office. And even if Di Paola found the
time and resources to promote this massive reform, he would have still had to reach an
agreement with all the other EU states: a virtually impossible task.
Concluding, it can be seen that the Italian army is moving towards European standards, so
this aspect could facilitate a potential integration into an eventual EU army. However, the
fact that Di Paola worked alone and proposed a national solution to what is considered
predominantly a national problem -not a European one- epitomises that the creation of an
EU integrated army is not on the agenda of policy makers in Brussels yet.
Italy has always valued the cooperation with its European partners. The increase in R&D
investment may lead to further shared projects among EU member states. However, the F-35
JSF project demonstrates that the ‘Made in USA’ stamp is still the best option when it comes
to military supplies. New important shared projects at the EU level are not planned yet, while
a healthy competition among the EU member states and the United States is advisable in
order to further enhance the military capabilities of NATO. Italy, as well as the UK, decided to
work with the USA for the F-35 project, but it will be fundamental that they continue to
promote shared projects at the EU level too if they want to become suppliers and not merely
buyers of cutting edge military technology.
The only danger that the EU faces from the Italian defence reform is embodied by the
shrunken Italian fleet. As mentioned earlier, in 2011 the waters of the Mediterranean Sea
were perilous and the Italian needed further support. A sufficient Italian military fleet is thus
central for the entire stability of the European Union. More ships are necessary rather than
less. More funds to the Navy are thus essential and more police agents operating in the
Italian territory would also be beneficial to help the migrants and patrol the coasts.
4. Development of the Italian Military: Way Forward
The reform proposed by Admiral Di Paola is solid and has in mind a thorough improvement
of the Italian military. The targets and objectives do not raise any specific complaint. The only
issue that has been previously underlined is connected to the decrease of the fleet.
Nevertheless, the Minister Di Paola was constrained by a tight budget so he had to make
tough decisions. The proposal of Minister Di Paola is therefore a good step forward for the
Italian military. However, the Defence Minister solely concentrated on reforms that would
face external threats rather than considering the internal ones too. This is the main weakness
of the current defence proposal.
4.1. What role for the Carabinieri?
So far this paper has focused on the proposal of Admiral Di Paola and has argued that the
restructuring of the Italian forces will be very valuable for fighting external threats. However,
the Defence Minister has to take into account the internal threats too and it seems that he
did not give them sufficient attention so far. The Defence Minister is not merely in charge of
8
the Army, Navy, and Air Force but also for approximately 115,000 Carabinieri. The Carabinieri
are gendarmes employed for police duties in the Italy, so they are mostly engaged in
combating internal threats. But the Carabinieri are military men and are also deployed in
peace operations outside the national borders.
Admiral Di Paola neither diminished the budget of
the Carabinieri nor promoted a major increase in it.
He mainly focused on external threats, and this led
to a development towards capital-intensive military
forces. However, these forces are not effective
against the internal threats that Italy is facing. In
fact, throughout Italian history, the Army has often
been used for internal surveillance and fight against
criminal activity. The latest development happened
in August 2008 when the operation ‘Strade Sicure’
Source: Carabinieri.it
(Safe Streets) commenced. Members of the Army
and Air Force cooperated with Italian police forces to safeguard the wellbeing of big Italian
cities in which the threat of criminal activity was perceived to be higher than usual. 11 ‘Strade
Sicure’ of 2008 was followed by ‘Strade Sicure 2’ in August 2009 and ‘Strade Sicure 3’ in
December 2010.
The fact that the Army is used for patrolling Italian cities leads us to question if decreasing its
human capital is the best solution. A stealth plane, a smart bomb, or a new advanced
submarine cannot contrast the internal criminal threats present in the Italian State. The
Italian police forces need the support of the Army in specific instances so decreasing the
number of human capital may ultimately lead to fewer soldiers that can be lent to the police
forces.
Still, soldiers are not policemen. When they are employed for public security their operative
role is diminished since they have neither the same preparations nor powers to intervene in
certain instances of the police agents. Adding to these problems, the soldiers have to report
to different chiefs. Thus Di Paola should have also taken into account the many internal
threats faced by the Italian citizenship. He should aim at fighting them too, and so should
promote a steep increase in the number of Carabinieri. As mentioned earlier, a new capital
intensive army will be useful to counter fight external threats, but to contrast internal issues a
different approach has to be adopted.
Although Italy has a larger police staff than any other EU state, a higher number of
Carabinieri seems necessary since the police forces have often needed the help of the
military to patrol the streets. The Italian citizens often perceive their cities to be unsafe. 12
Perception of a real or potential threat plays a key role in the civilian society. In Italy, the
population does not see enough police agents in the street and thus fears for its own safety.
In order to overcome this fear, the public opinion requires more agents on the streets, so the
Defence Minister should provide them by increasing the number of Carabinieri.
11
Groups of citizens, exasperated by the criminal activities in their areas, even proposed to create their own
private militias if the police did not intervene. Private militias would have constituted more bad than good since
the police would have had to control them too. By the declarations of the citizens, it was clear that there was a
lack of manpower in the streets.
12
Istat, Reati, vittime percezione della sicurezza, Anni 2008-2009, pubblicato 22 novembre 2010.
9
Thanks to a higher employment of Carabinieri, the Italian Government would not have to
emanate special decrees to employ its soldiers for security reasons. The Carabinieri would be
regularly used to contrast internal criminal threats: they would acquire specific training for
the tasks they have to perform, they would answer to the same commander (thus eliminating
the duplications) and would have a solid knowledge of how they can intervene legally,
without the limitations that the soldiers have to face. An increase in the Carabinieri can thus
be the optimal solution to achieving a high security level against internal threats. The military
forces could go on with their reform too so Italy would enjoy the benefits arising from
having a force ready to face external threats.
Augmenting the Carabinieri would also be beneficial for contrasting organised criminal
groups that are the predominant and most dangerous threat that Italy is facing for its
security. Fighting and dismantling the infamous endogenous mafia groups such as Cosa
Nostra, Camorra, ‘Ndrangheta, and the Sacra Corona Unita is the main priority for the Italian
State. These mafia families have also been working with other European and international
criminal groups that in some cases have also opened some of their branches in the Italian
territory. Striking a powerful blow to organised crime would be beneficial for the entire EU
since the Italian mafias work throughout the EU too. The Pentagon could also count on a
safer and more internally stable ally and would not fear the threats that mafia families could
enact against its troops based in Italy.
This paper proposes that the Minister should increase the Carabinieri’s number by 60,000
units. This scheme would cost approximately 3 billion € per year. This augmented number of
Carabinieri will undoubtedly improve the perception of public security by the Italian society.
It would also be in a position to initiate a campaign that would truly aim at defeating the
mafias. Although Italy already has a high number of police agents, an increase of their staff
seems beneficial to reassure the public, but, at the same time, improvement of the
operational capacity of the existing agents should also be enhanced. There are a variety of
fields in which new technologies would prove to be extremely valuable. Furthermore, new
technologies can also support a better use and deployment of the human factor. By
employing more men on the ground and new technologies, the Defence Ministry would fully
safeguard its citizens, the criminal threat would steeply decrease and this would trigger a
positive chain reaction for the Italian society and economy.
To be able to counter fight the criminal threats, the Carabinieri alone would, however, not be
sufficient. Also the Justice Minister would have to increase the number of its magistrates so
that they could work together with the police forces to combat criminality. Italy also has too
many police forces and a general reform of these forces could be helpful especially vis-à-vis
command and duty duplication. But this paper will not discuss this issue as it is aimed at
providing suggestions that the Defence Minister can implement himself. However, the lack of
human factor may not solely be connected to the insufficient number of police agents, but
to the high and dispersive number of their different chiefs as well; this fact must not be
discounted. Even without considering a major reform of all the Italian police forces, the
Defence Minister should enhance the cooperation with the Guardia di Finanza. This is the
main Italian police force that deals with tax evasion; if it only concentrates on this issue and
leaves other operative roles to the Carabinieri, it could reacquire most of the 120 billion €
which is not paid to the Italian State each year. If the Italian Government could possess a
further 120 billion € per year, it would be able to pay back its public debt much quicker. This
10
aspect cannot be underestimated in an era in which financial terrorists may ‘attack’ national
economies. The money recovered from tax evasion can be used to support the 3 billion € for
the increased number of Carabinieri. The amount of money destined to the technological
and training investment cannot be quantified due to lack of data. However, these
investments will also be easily sustained thanks to the fight against tax evasion. Furthermore,
fighting organised crime will lead to confiscate the mafia families’ possessions. Further proof
that underlines that the investments in the Carabinieri will undoubtedly pay off. This paper
would suggest the Minister to increase the Carabinieri’s number by 60,000 units. This scheme
would cost approximately 3 billion € per year. This augmented number of Carabinieri will
undoubtedly improve the perception of public security by the Italian society. It would also be
able to initiate a campaign that would truly aim at defeating the mafias. Although Italy has
already a high number of police agents, an increase of their staff seems beneficial to reassure
the public opinion, but, at the same time, improvement of the operational capacity of the
existing agents should also be enhanced. There is a variety of fields in which new
technologies would prove to be extremely valuable. 13 Furthermore, new technologies can
also support a better use and deployment of the human factor. By employing more men on
the ground and new technologies, the Defence Ministry would fully safeguard its citizens and
the criminal threat would steeply decrease and this would trigger a positive chain reaction
for the Italian society and economy.
Admiral Di Paola’s proposal is useful in counter fighting the external threats. But the primary
importance must be given to the confrontation against organised criminal groups and
criminality in general. In an era in which criminals are becoming stronger rather than weaker,
the Defence Minister has to demand for more resources to contrast them. It has also been
argued that the resources invested will be well spent so this is no dangerous or risky
investment. More and better trained and equipped Carabinieri are the answer for the internal
security of Italy.
Bibliography
Commissioni Congiunte Difesa, Audizione del Ministro della Difesa Giampaolo Di Paola,
Senato della Repubblica, 15 febbraio 2012.
EDA Defence Data 2010 available at: http://www.eda.europa.eu/DefenceData/
IAI: Alessandro Marrone and Giulio Maria Raffa, Le sfide del bilancio della difesa, 16 maggio
2011, http://www.affarinternazionali.it/articolo.asp?ID=1757
Istat, Reati, vittime percezione della sicurezza, Anni 2008-2009, pubblicato 22 novembre
2010.
Ministero della Difesa, Missioni Militari all’estero,
http://www.difesa.it/OperazioniMilitari/Pagine/OperazioniMilitari.aspx
Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Dipartimento della Ragioneria Generale dello Stato,
Ispettorato generale del bilancio, Nota integrativa alla legge di bilancio per l’anno
2012 e per il triennio 2012-2014 del Ministero della Difesa (Aggiornamento ai sensi
dell’art. 21 comma 11, lettera a) della Legge n. 196/2009)
13
Improvements in forensics, new vehicles with better digital technology that would connect them to their
operational centres, the use of Predators Unman Aircrafts to patrol particular dangerous areas, increase in
number and improvements in the quality of CCTV, improved training and equipment for the Special Forces of the
Carabinieri; these are just some of the suggestions.
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