Identity Aspen Institute Italia is a private, independent, international, nonpartisan and nonprofit association that encourages a free exchange of opinions about knowledge, information and values.
The Aspen Community is made up of Sustaining Members, Ordinary Members, Friends of Aspen, Aspen Junior Fellows and Former Aspen Junior Fellows, who all offer their vast resources to the Institute. Independent but coordinated offices – in the US, France, Germany, Japan, India, Romania, Spain, the Czech Republic and Mexico - form the Aspen international network.
The Aspen Institute was founded in the United States in 1950, upon the initiative of a group of intellectuals and businessmen. The aim was to relaunch a dialogue that would encourage decision makers to share knowledge and values in the complicated international context that was just emerging from the devastation of World War II.
In Italy, the Institute was established in 1984. Over the years, it has focused especially on Transatlantic relations - an issue that continues to take priority. The Aspen Italia headquarters is in Rome, a second office operates out of Milan and a third out of Venice.
Mission Aspen Institute Italia's mission is to internationalize the country's entrepreneurial, political and cultural leadership, as well as to promote the free exchange of ideas and beliefs, in a search for common values, knowledge and interests. Programs focus on the problems and challenges facing today's decision-makers in politics, economics, academia and the media, with particular attention to the business world.
Methodology The "Aspen method" foresees open debate, in a reserved setting, so as to favor interpersonal relations and encourage effective and informative dialogue on the selected topics. Around the Aspen table, leaders from spheres of influence such as industry, economics, finance, politics, and culture freely exchange points of view, off the record and behind closed doors.
The goal is not to reach foregone conclusions, or spout reassuring platitudes, but to highlight the complicated reality of today's world, and to encourage that intercultural dialogue from which universal ideals and values can emerge, to inspire a modern, well-informed leadership.
ASPEN INSTITUTE ITALIA www.aspeninstitute.it
The Journal
Aspenia, Aspen Institute Italia's prestigious journal on international affairs, is published four times a year. Founded in 1995, Aspenia has become a front runner in Italy and abroad, serving as a reference point for the exchange of ideas on long-term strategic issues.
The Institute's Chairman, Giulio Tremonti, describes Aspenia thus: "A forum for transatlantic discussion, the journal reflects the fruitful relations that Aspen has established over the years and represents a meeting place between the business community and other worlds."
Aspenia is the only Italian journal to regularly address issues of transatlantic interest, offering significant political commentary on US-European relations. Its success comes from the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach to problems and from the long list of prestigious figures it counts among its authors. These contributors include: Giuliano Amato, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Lawrence Freedman, Francis Fukuyama, Timothy Garton Ash, Bob Geldof, Bronislaw Geremek, Anthony Giddens, Samuel Huntington, Robert Kagan, Charles Kupchan, Gilles Kepel, Arrigo Levi, Kishore Mahbubani, Mario Monti, Condoleezza Rice, Jeffrey Sachs, Paolo Savona, Joseph Stiglitz, Strobe Talbott and Giulio Tremonti.
According to Giuliano Amato, its founder, "Aspenia is a 'responsible' journal, which has succeeded in keeping up with history. None of the last decade's great questions is missing from the pages of Aspenia, and particular attention has been paid over the years to rising powers, to shifts in geopolitical balance and to the two great faultlines along which our recent history has unfolded: 1989 and 2001."
Aspenia has intervened in many strategic questions, often forecasting political and economic changes and interpreting - as explained by Aspenia's Editor-in-Chief, Marta Dassù - "the post-Cold War transformation of the Western world."
Published with Il Sole 24 ORE, the Italian version of Aspenia is distributed at newsstands and in bookstores throughout Italy. The English version comes out twice a year, consists of a selection of choice articles, and is distributed to think tanks, embassies and universities all over the world.
Aspenia online is a forum where the major themes of current international affairs can be developed in a flexible fashion and in an agile editorial format. Our authors include top experts and leaders in foreign affairs, economists and policy makers, along with young emerging voices in these fields.
The articles are published in either Italian or English, allowing us to select content from the best of two worlds. English as a working language has become second nature to our authors and prospective readers, therefore we have decided to disregard language differences by treating them as a fact of (global) life, not a hindrance.
Aspenia online was the recipient of the 2013 Amerigo Award, fifth edition, web site section. The award is presented by the Amerigo Association, located at the US Embassy in Rome, and is a moral recognition for journalists and publications that strive to explain issues pertaining to the United States to an Italian audience.
ASPEN INSTITUTE ITALIA www.aspeninstitute.it