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Food security is one of the most complex problems that the world is facing today. This paper discusses the role of international trade in food security and analyzes whether there is a real option to promote or attract land investments, alongside domestic production and international trade for the nations touched by food insecurity. Considering food security as a common purpose for all nations, independently of their level of development or political ideologies, the research concludes that serious cooperation within international agricultural trade negotiations represents the main step towards resolving the most important world challenges such as achieving global food security alongside "Green Growth". International trade is connected with economic development: free trade brings on medium and long term economic growth. Fighting against poverty requires efficient economic policies and, due to the high degree of economic integration reached by the international economy, this is possible only if governments cooperate with each other and with international organizations, avoiding protectionism.

International norms are, by definition, a factor of stability in the international system. Nevertheless empirical evidence shows that norms are constantly changing, which raises questions on the ability of norms to regulate inter-states relations & prevent conflicts. This article analyses the cycle of norm diffusion, tracing the origin of norms, their diffusion, contestation & change. It investigates the relationship between interests & identity & between structure & agency in the process of norm diffusion, & discusses the implications of this process on international cooperation. Adapted from the source document.

The debate between realists and liberals in the field of International Relations concerning the causes and effects of economic interdependence among states has led to a remarkable branch of empirical literature, but hardly any research has studied such dynamics in the period following the Cold War, which is so often defined "the age of globalization". This article is based on a quantitative analysis of the influence of international politics on commercial flows in the post-bipolar period and it performs such analysis on two datasets: the first one including all countries of the system for which data are available and the second one focused on the countries that previous similar studies have identified as great powers. The results show that the contemporary international system is marked by a high degree of complexity and by the simultaneous action of different and even contrasting logics. Liberal variables such as democracy and economic international institutions exert a remarkable effect on international trade, especially at the global level, but international security and even power politics issues are still relevant, particularly for the great powers in their reciprocal relationships. Adapted from the source document.

After a brief account of the origin of the Kosovo crisis & of the attempts made by the international community to bring it to a solution, in the present work, the Author starts analyzing the stands taken by States in relation to the declaration of independence issued on the 17 February 2008 by the Assembly of Kosovo. By weighing the validity of the arguments advanced in favour or against the independence of Kosovo, the Author first highlights the violation of the terms of the UN Security Council resolution 1244/99 by the unilateral declaration of independence & the contradictions & omissions inherent in the claim of uniqueness about Kosovo advanced by most of the States which have decided to recognize the new entity. The Author then claims that the independence of Kosovo cannot be characterized neither as an exercise of a (dubious) right to a remedial secession nor as a fait accompli. He therefore concludes that Kosovo does not qualify yet as a subject of international law, that the acts of recognition of the new entity adopted by several States are premature and, as such, illegitimate & that, notwithstanding it is resolutely denied in any official statement, the conduct of abovementioned States seems to be permeated by the philosophy of the remedial secession. Adapted from the source document.

After the beginning of the experience of the center-left government in the early sixties, Italy proposes an independent and original foreign policy, consistent with its position in the Mediterranean, across the border between East and West. The preferred partner within the Warsaw Pact is Romania, considered the vanguard of a political process of internal liberalization and of political emancipation of Eastern Europe from Soviet-communism. So far, the limited historiography on the Italo-Romanian relationships has taken into account almost exclusively the economic and trade agreements. This paper, on the basis of largely unpublished documentation at the Senato della Repubblica and at the Central State's Archive in Italy, analyzes instead the main international issues of the meetings between Bucharest and Rome, namely the Détente, the Sino-Soviet conflict, the peace building in the South-East Asia, the Middle-East, the CSCE. The unpublished diary of statesman Amintore Fanfani, Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1965 to 1968, reveals how the Italian ruling class has a substantial confidence in Ion Gheorghe Maurer and Corneliu Mănescu and high expectations around an alleged non-alignment of Romania. On the other hand, the correspondence from the Italian Embassy in Bucharest for Aldo Moro (Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1969 to 1972 and from 1973 to 1974), describes the violent and authoritarian temper of the regime established by Ceauşescu in his country. In any case the Italian strategy seems then to reappraise the special partnership with Romania, in favor of a multilateral approach to the problem of Détente within the continental conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The article aims to enrich our understanding of the double-concept of "peace/war" in international relations, & of its place in international theory, starting from an examination of its relations with issues of power & freedom. The authors look at history to comprehend the essential features of peace & war in different systems of states as they have historically developed; but they also turn to contemporary international politics to highlight the ways in which both peace & war have changed since the end of the Cold War. Finally, the article investigates the politics of "peace/war" in the international order of today, with particular reference to globalization & the role of American hegemony. Adapted from the source document.