Western Italian Boundaries. The geopolitics of Sabaudian space in Giovanni Botero’s Relazione di Piamonte. – In recent decades, the historiography dedicated to the Duchy of Savoy has reflected at length on the theme of the borders and frontiers of the pre-alpine dominions, investigating in depth the composite nature of those territories between discontinuities (the Monferrato, the marquisate of Saluzzo, imperial and papal fiefs ...) and attempts at assimilation. Reasoning around a text such as Giovanni Botero’s Relazione di Piamonte of 1607, we intend to retrace in a geopolitical key the agglutination of the Savoy territories, taking into account both local and international dynamics of the second half of the 16th century. Amidst tensions with France along the Alpine ridge, internal frictions with the Waldensian valleys, and Mediterranean projections, the complex picture will emerge within which Charles Emmanuel I on the one hand consolidated the achievements of his father Emmanuel Philibert with the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, and on the other prepared the breakaway from Spain in the wake of the conflicts over the succession of Mantua and Monferrato (1613-1618; 1627-1631).

Towards a new Geopolitics. Reflections on the challenge of theoretical clarity, in the complexity of the new Millennium. – In a historical phase of accelerating change, persistent conflict, falling ideological veils, and recognition of the importance of the spatial element in influencing politics and conflict, contemporary Geopolitics is faced with a formidable historical challenge: that of developing theoretical clarity. This is a difficult task, however, because of some legacies of classical Geopolitics and differences in approaches. Nevertheless, contemporary global political changes make it possible not only to broaden horizons, overcoming the state-centric paradigm and the theoretical rigidities of the past, but also to reorder concepts and theories, maintaining at their basis the stability of the geographic factor, albeit bal-anced by human action. It can also be done by seeking to broaden the investigation into territoriality, geographic space, and the territorial concentration of power. This can be achieved not only by extending the multidisciplinary dialogue, but also by synthesizing the most solid findings generated by different approaches and schools, such as Critical and Neo-classical geopolitics, in the direction of a dynamic Geopolitics, able to approach, even if in small steps, a general theory.

The global south as a transcalar geopolitical construction site: african profiles. – The last two years, with the post-Covid adjustments, the climate transition and two ongoing wars of global impact, have been marked by intense international attention towards the African continent, despite its vastness and diversity. On the one hand, this may please Africans, for the help that can come to the solution of their many problems; on the other hand, it worries them, given the historical precedents. There seems to be a new scramble for Africa underway due to the crumbling of the European and, more broadly, Western presence, against the backdrop of a more general reshuffling of the international order. In this reshuffling, the “Global South” seems to be playing an increasingly important role. Who will lead and how will the world’s economic, cultural and political evolution unfold? The game is complex, but Africa is certainly one of the main arenas of contention. As an immense reserve of raw materials - minerals, energy, agro-forestry - the Continent is emerging as the world’s leading area of demographic development while acquiring growing geopolitical relevance, due to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, but also, due to the conflicting profiles that are emerging in the Indo-Pacific, between China and the United States. In this fermenting context, heterogeneous events have taken place over the past couple of years (2023/24) that have recorded an impressive acceleration: two coups in Francophone Africa, three world summits that evoke a pan-African partnership (Russia-Africa, China-Africa, Piano Mattei), two geopolitical summits in Johannesburg and Nairobi (unified African position on climate change, September 2023). It is worth trying to trace a coherent geopolitical profile of this heterogeneous set of events.

The new opportunities offered by immersive and inclusive technologies to represent and rediscover the complex relationship between human communities and water resources. – In order to know, represent and interpret the complex relationship between water landscapes and human communities the new technologies (immersive cartography, three-dimensional web, augmented reality, 3D environments) represent extraordinary and functional tools both for research and for territorial information and promotion actions in terms of tourism. Evidence of this is the project “Tourist Itineraries to Discover the Waters of Italy”, conceived and promoted by the GECOAGRI LANDITALY Interuniversity Research Group Association and financed by ACEA, aimed at promoting a process of water resource enhancement in the dimension of environmental, economic and social sustainability. The authors through some exemplifications and using a methodology of operational analysis, characterized by new syntaxes, reconstruct with the help of augmented reality and immersive technologies, as well as the canonical geocartographic and documentary sources, the material and immaterial dimension of the water resource in the Conca reatina, Umbilicus Italiae, where the sociocultural dynamics underlying the relationship between water and population, narrate experiences of vulnerability and development, participation and conflict, protection and threat. Through 10 ten interactive and implementable totem-stations, it is possible to embark on an inclusive and participatory journey that allows people to explore even inaccessible places. Not only video and audio, historical and thematic cartographies, photos and three-dimensional images, but also drone shots from which to observe from above what nature and culture have achieved and, if necessary, to land in particular places reconstructed through augmented reality that allows one to observe them as they were and as they are today, making clear the processes of transformation of which signs and sedimentations remain in the landscape palimpsest.

Comparative Experiences of Equestrian Sports Events in the Metropolitan Area of Rome. – Sports events offer an opportunity for regeneration, visibility, and international repositioning for the hosting territories as they can lead to the creation of cultural districts, displaying the territory’s self-representation and specialization. While these events require significant organizational and financial commitments, they also present strategic opportunities with various effects, such as economic diversification and cultural enrichment. This study examines the territorial impacts of two equestrian sports events in the Rome metropolitan area: the 2022 World Equestrian Games and the Piazza di Siena horse show. Despite
performing the same sport discipline, these events have different economic, social, and environmental impacts, as well as varying dynamics related to managing territorial conflicts. The reflection aims to analyse how to reconcile the goals of tourism-economic development and environmental protection in areas with significant natural value, by identifying programmatic actions and best practices.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the semantic question

Cooperations, mediations and conflicts between Italy and Switzerland in the Ticino River catchment basin: some geographical reflections. – This paper aims to describe and critically analyze the set of agreements, common laws and practices that were build up, across the years, to regulate cooperation between Switzerland and Italy around the Ticino River catchment basin on a series of issues concerning lakes and rivers. We identified five: shipping, fishing, regulation of water levels, electricity supply and production, and environmental protection. Interreg projects that were developed in the area are analyzed as recent means to solve conflicts based on innovative cross-scale governances. Eventually, issues of potential discord demanding mediation and cooperation in the near future are outlined, specifically in relation to climate change.

Cinque Impatti Ambientali di Ampia Portata del Conflitto Attuale in Ucraina. – Nel 2013, il presidente ucraino Viktor Yanukovych tentò di rafforzare i legami con la Russia, provocando proteste che sfociarono nel conflitto nell’Ucraina orientale e nell’annessione della Crimea da parte della Russia. Nel febbraio 2022, la Russia ha avviato un’invasione su larga scala, scatenando una guerra totale. Questo documento si propone di valutare i cinque effetti più devastanti che il conflitto tra Russia e Ucraina ha sull’ambiente, con particolare attenzione alle conseguenze su ecosistemi e biodiversità, risorse idriche, qualità dell’aria, infrastrutture, e ai rischi radiologici e nucleari. La ricerca utilizza un approccio misto, basato principalmente su analisi qualitative e comparative, con l’integrazione occasionale di analisi geospaziali. I primi risultati indicano un grave degrado ambientale, legato all’inquinamento causato dalle attività militari e ai danni alle infrastrutture. In conclusione, si sottolinea l’urgenza di affrontare le conseguenze ambientali del conflitto per promuovere la sostenibilità nelle aree colpite.

Rationalities and socio-spatial effects of hydraulic infrastructure in Sardinia. – The infrastructural processes of the water system unfold over extended periods, often resulting in nonlinearities within the processes themselves, despite originating as explicit projects aimed at material control over resources and territorial development. These constructions give rise to various interpretations of irrigation systems, intersectoral conflicts, and power struggles among the different actors involved in their management and use. The aim of this article is to engage in dialogue regarding the water infrastructure process in Sardinia, examining its intersection with the different rationales guiding water management and territorial development policies. It highlights both internal and external factors influencing these processes, as well as the significance of historical legacies.

Relational goods, imbalances, and the society-environment relationship. – The interactions between the economy, the environment, and territorial systems form a complex network that influences the structure and development of regions. The reflection is carried out both in relation to imbalances and in the reinterpretation of ecological and socio-spatial relations, collaborative processes, and the organisation and reorganisation of space as relational goods. The issue of territorial imbalances is linked to the question of conflicts within political ecology. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to present a theoretical reflection that aims to deepen the relationship between the economy, the environment, and territorial systems, focusing specifically on relational goods in the context of two spatiotemporal dimensions and referring to a territorial system as an alternative approach. The complexity of the territorial system, therefore, suggests taking into account the communicative and relational interdependencies between local actors, that influence economic growth and sustainable development. Finally, the responsible use of territorial resources requires public policies that reduce spatial inequalities, promote the active participation of territorial actors and the sustainable management of resources as components of local development.

Agreements on the use of water, cooperation, policies and conflicts: river contracts in Italy. – The paper aims to explore the concept of river contract as a tool for participatory management of water resources, analyzing in this context the key role of conservation and management of their naturalness. The main objective of the research is to understand how river contracting can facilitate the conservation, enhancement and transmission of cultural heritage while promoting the sustainable development of local communities. The methodology is based on a review of the available literature on the river contract concept, its role in cultural heritage enhancement, and the need for the geo-mediation phase as an important moment of shared and participatory planning. The results of the research, in addition to highlighting regional differences in the application of River Contracts in Italy, indicate that the river contract although not widespread can act as a catalyst for the management and enhancement of cultural heritage, actively involving local communities in the conservation of their territories. The implications of the research may be useful for scholars, practitioners and institutions interested in the conservation and enhancement of water resources through the implementation of planning strategies by identifying the figure of the geomediator as a facilitator of performative processes.

Economic resilience and sustainability: Macroeconomic indicators and pre- and post-crisis political dynamics in the European Union. – This study examines the complex articulation of the global economic crisis on the member countries of the European Union (EU) in the last decade, and outlines diversified empirical results based on economic performances detected through appropriate indicators at national and community scale. Adopting a multi-disciplinary perspective, the study investigates the possible responses to the crisis of the EU institutions and individual member states by evaluating, among others, the adjustment programs supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the initiatives aimed at promoting solidarity tax. The study is based on the comparison of macroeconomic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), public debt, budget deficit, and unemployment rate. This allows us to provide a comparative perspective on regional disparities and national economic dynamics. The impact of external factors such as the pandemic (Covid-19), and geopolitical conflicts on continental chessboards, finally allow us to highlight the current challenges and the importance of coordinated action and inclusive governance to guarantee unity and, together, resilience of member countries. The study highlights the importance of promoting fiscal solidarity, improving economic governance and closing disparities in order to promote sustainable growth and prosperity across the EU.

Olympic territorializations: the case studies of Cortina and Bormio. – The material construction processes of Olympic territoriality have often triggered dialectics, controversies, and conflicts of a rather widespread political, social, and communicative nature, as emerged, also in the case of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, by the chronicles of recent months. These controversies unfold on multiple discursive levels. Firstly, on the legal level, which is the focal point around which revolve all the configurative conflicts of an environmental and landscape nature. Secondly, on the economic level through strategies of appropriation and access to territorial resources. Finally, on the political level in the dual dialectic of contrasts and different positions within administrations and between administrations and civil society. The study aims to investigate some of the outcomes of the projects and territorial transformations produced by the organization of the Milan-Cortina 2026 mega Olympic event, focusing in particular on the analysis of two case studies related to two infrastructures designed in mountain municipalities with a strong tourist characterization such as Cortina and Bormio. In this context, more specifically, controversies arising from the design of the bob track in Cortina and the so-called “Alute” bypass road in Bormio will also be considered.

Comics, rusty stones and resilient hearts. Graphic novels and practices of spatial re-significance in roman peripheries at night. – This paper is the first result of a wider research project dedicated to the depiction of peripherical and marginal areas in comic books and graphic novels. As such, the contribution is consistent with the perspective of critical geopolitics and focused on the analysis of three graphic novels that, beyond their stylistic and narratives differences, are all set in the same “chronotope”: the Roman periphery at night. Thus, the paper draws from night-studies, socio-geographical theo-ries of space-production, and previous literature dedicated to comics geography. The three works are then presented as divergent narratives that stands against the negative depiction of periphery in mainstream media and their demonization of alternative and conflictual social practices, such as rave parties, graffiti, and house squatting.

Urban Interstices as Spaces of Possibility. Urban Explorations and Everyday Prac-tices around the SS 554 «Cagliaritana». – In this paper, I explore the hypothesis that the interstices around urban motorways could be intended as spaces of creative, political, and performative experimentation outside planning and market logic. Urban interstices can be thought of as the negative of the city and part of a counter-utilitarian discourse, leading to great flexibility in the production of different urban forms.
Re-interpreting Gibson-Graham’s politics of possibility I re-read urban interstices around motorways as spaces of possibility, in which other spa-tial forms and dynamics are made visible, conceivable, and thus possible. In the literature on interstices, the emphasis on spatial possibilities is pre-sent but never posed in Gibson-Graham’s feminist, performative, and transformative terms.
The reading of urban interstices as spaces of possibility arises from the exploration of the interstices around the SS 554 “Cagliaritana”. In partic-ular, I will provide an understanding of the informal practices taking place in it as non-conflictual political claims towards a different way of producing urban space, that makes the interstices spaces of possibility.

The enclave of Melilla: an urban area on the edge of the Mediterranean. – The Autonomous City of Melilla as well as that of Ceuta, located on the edge of the Mediterranean, represents the only two land borders between Africa and Europe. Given the particular geographical position that covers the enclave, Melilla is considered as a peripheral territory of the European Union (Sánchez, 2022). The Spatial, cultural and linguistic conflicts are reflected in the urban geography of the enclave and in the division of the city’s neighborhoods. In districts I and II, located in the center of the city, the Spanish language and the Catholic religion are pre-dominant, while the presence of Muslims and the use of the Tamazight language, mainly characterized the peripheral districts of the cities belonging to districts III, IV and V; “Language is also a place of struggle” (hooks, 1998, p. 64). The aim of this work is to analyze the marginal role that the enclave plays between urban, linguistic and religious conflicts.

Paesaggi transumanti: a variable geometry approach to interpreting the relational flows of nomadic transhumant pastoralism in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. – For centuries, a particular type of entrepreneur has been traversing the countryside of Friuli Venezia Giulia, climbing up the valleys and reaching the mountain pastures: they are the nomadic transhumant shepherds. The shepherds do not only make a vertical oscillatory journey that connects the mountains to the plains, but move with perpetual horizontal motion, which sees the herds make daily movements covering an area that affects the green spaces of almost the entire territory of the region, including protected areas, bringing out management and relational conflicts that deserve to be investigated. Despite urbanization, infrastructure and industrialization, transhumant pastoralism continues to exist and stands as an interesting example - complex and full of ambiguity - of resilience and sustaina-bility. “Paesaggi transumanti” is a research project that integrates disciplines of geography, ethnography and contemporary art. The article pre-sents a mapping updated to 2023 of transhumant shepherds in Friuli Ve-nezia Giulia and a proposal for the interpretation of the regional landscape according to their specific point of view.

More-than-wet Geographies of the Black Mediterranean: marginality, excesses, re-genera(c)tion. – Interweaving the production on the contemporary Black Mediterranean with the recent Oceanic Turn (Peters, Anderson, Davies, Steinberg, 2022), which repositions the sea from the margin to the centre of the geographic discipline, this specific sea-space emerges as a space co-composed of two fundamental elements: the trans-colonial (Sharpe, 2016) wake (Harrison, 2018) that connects the pre-modern Black Mediterranean to the Black Atlantic of modernity and the contemporary Black Mediterranean; the waves (de Spuches, Palermo, 2020; Palermo, 2023), matter and metaphor of moving bodies of challenge, resistance, conflicts. The latter, specifically, become re-genera(c)tions from the margin to imagine and practice possible trans-Mediterranean alliances, thus revealing how thinking with the sea can function as a decolonial tool for decentralising the gaze on a space of colonial margins production such as the Black Mediterranean.

Shadows of militarism on the city. An urban perspective on military geographies. – Cities represent a relevant perspective for analysing military discourses and practices. Firstly, because the urban scale continues to be the key site of conventional warfare and a space of experimentation for new forms of militarism. Secondly, because the presence and the resulting construction of military discourse determine a complex system that influences both everyday practices and the dynamics of governance. The analysis of these influences allows us to highlight points of overlap between processes of militarization and forms of urban violence (to be understood both in relation to individuals and in connection to the construction/limitation of spaces). This contribution, through an analytical dialogue between the literature on military geographies and urban studies, aims to examine the relationship between militarism at the urban scale and the geographies of violence, in cities not directly involved in war conflicts.

Armed secessionism in the post-soviet space. The case of South Ossetia. – During the 1990s, several new independent States arose from the collapse of the Soviet Union were involved in ethnic conflicts that led to the secession of parts of their territory and to the self-proclamation of de facto republics supported militarily and diplomatically by Russia but lacking international recognition. The explosion and the lack of resolution of these conflicts can be linked to the Russian aim to exert a hegemonic influence on the former Soviet republics that pursue a pro-Western stance. This is the case of the “five days” war of August 2008, which saw Georgia and Russia fighting for the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia, territory formally belonging to Georgia but outside its control. Here we want to retrace origins and repercussions of this conflict, also in light of the Georgian position regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The use of force in interstate relations: theory and evolutions in geo-political practice. – The use of force in relations between states and other players on the world stage: theory, practice and developments in political geography. Based on the experiences of the twentieth century (world wars, genocides, ideological-totalitarian degenerations, decolonization processes), the geopolitical thought of late modernity, starting from the 1960s, essentially develops in a “critical” sense. Then it assumes, among its favorite themes, the discussion on the essence of power (whether or not it is intrinsically “bad”), of the state and of politics (if they inevitably have to rely on the use of force); then it starts the development of a method targeted to regulation and prevention of conflicts, based on a process of deconstruction of alleged “false” ideas of power, to prevent the effects of escalation that have led the whole of humanity to the risk of destruction and self-destruction. These needs are translated operationally into the search for the so-called “insider” factors, that is, those that, in a certain scenario, beyond an immanent and self-evident “casus belli”, cause effects of permanent and out of control conflict, to the point of making war an element that justifies itself (an end, rather than a means). Effects that confuse any causal chain, which make it difficult to identify links and motivations, and therefore the search for a solution, and with it the pacification of crisis scenarios (which in fact tend to perpetuate themselves in areas of “endemic” conflictuality. All this proceeding on the basis of a neo-Enlightenment (possibly neo-liberal) assumption, which almost deterministically assumes the affirmation of an open society, refractory to violence, and the assimilation of “evil” to the mechanisms of democratization, to open market and capitalist prosperity. All this in a context of multilateral policy development, the establishment of international organizations, and the consolidation of a trans-national geo-economic apparatus, of civil society as an “answer to war”, with the aim of progressively limiting, up to cancel the same occasions of conflict; and this to the point that an idea of war as something obsolete spreads (perhaps in an illusory way). The latest events, however, and recent developments, seem to contradict this trend, re-proposing themes and tensions that ge-ographic-political theory seemed to have abandoned for some time. A fact made even more evident by the current invasion of Ukraine, which leaves you dismayed, like aggression to troglodytic times, when the invasion did not need to have a justification; it seems to cause deliberate violence and destruction on a large scale, so much so as to question the entire “critical” paradigm. Putin 24th February discourse deliberately denies the right of Ukraine to survive as a national human community. Evolutions that make it necessary to rethink the practices of limitation and regulation, of the intervention and prevention devices of war, and of the same method of study of the scenarios; perhaps a return to models that, just until a few months ago, were considered outdated.

Landscape education as a practice of geographical mediation in the processes of resignification of places and reduction of conflicts in San Lorenzo district in Rome. – San Lorenzo district has a marked historical-identity component which, however, has not managed to safeguard the neighbourhood from phenomena of deterritorialization and gentrification. The main cause of the recent condition of degradation and conflict has to be found in the urban layout which has triggered a series of interferences in the identity of the place, for example the external pressures exerted by the university. In this case, therefore, the “configurative profile” (Turco, 2010), made up of relationships, emotions and feelings, has been impoverished and has been transformed.
In this context are inserted the landscape education practices (Turco, 2020) promoted by geographers of Sapienza University of Rome, which propose themselves as cultural mediators in the process of re-signification of places and spaces. The presence in the field and the response to the cultural requests from the immediate surroundings of the University have been translated into events open to the public such as the International Night of Geography or the Roman Summer in San Lorenzo which combine the presence of institutions with activities of Public geography. The territory as a common good is such only if the community is the architect of its definition and recognizes the anthropological value of the space. In this direction, landscape education, strongly characterized on an emotional and cognitive level, contributes to implementing those reterritorialization processes which are the privileged tool of geography for the resolution of the impoverishment phenomena caused by situations of conflict and violence.

Conflict mitigation goes (also) through ecological economy. – «It is foreseeable that, once certain resources have been depleted, the scene will be set for new wars, albeit under the guise of noble claims»: this recent quote by Pope Francis (Laudato Sì, p. 57) has once again drawn the attention of world public opinion to the issue of the limitation of available resources, which already is one of the main causes of war and violence, and it is likely to cause even more in the future. The more the depletion of non-renewable sources, the higher the number of the conflicts, as well as their seriousness. In 2022, the Earth Overshoot Day underlined that mankind has depleted all the resources annually available on July 28th (a day earlier than 2021); moreover, land grabbing is out of control due to hyper-connection at the basis of global production chains. These processes also continued during the pandemic that, on one hand, mitigated overexploits thanks to lock-downs but, on the other hand, it has not driven to a U-turn in attitudes towards the environment and access to resources. In this essay, after a preliminary analysis of global value chains and of the social consequences with regard to the increase of fear and violence indirectly provoked by the quest to sources, we discuss an in-depth study of an ecological and circular economic development model, based on the regionalization of exchanges for the exploitation of domestic resources.

The Afghan Wars: Between Economic-Cultural effects and Similarities in the Eura-sian Geopolitical Scenario. – The peculiar geomorphological configuration, characterized by imposing mountain ranges and desert areas, makes Af-ghanistan a difficult-to-access territory. Autochthonous peoples (different ethnic groups united by the war against “the foreigner” that also promoted the Taliban affirmation) widely exploited such a scenario suitable for guerrillas based on sudden attacks, difficulty accessing heavy weapons, and re-sistance to air attacks. The ability to counter invasions has been confirmed in the pushback of great powers, like Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America, which previously financed the mujahideen against Russian occupation. This management problem translates into the unexpectedly long democratization campaign of Afghanistan led by the Americans, which ended on August 15, 2021. The Enduring Freedom program, which envisaged the Western agreement of seventy nations for the implementation of a democratically stable situation and lasting in Afghan territory, proved a failure in the coexistence of the Americans in the cities and the Taliban in the valleys and mountainous areas. The withdrawal of American troops generated a sudden change in the international geopolit-ical scenario and, consequently, the Middle East balance. Through a brief historical overview of the conflicts that gripped Afghanistan, this work aims to provide a picture of the geopolitical, economic and cultural effects that have influenced the precarious balance of the Middle Eastern area of the world system.

Bosnia and Herzegovina in front of an European war resurgence: violence does not stop, yet the word “war” does not exist anymore. – The end of the Cold war did not determine “the end of history”, nor it started a new era of world peace under the sign of political and economic liberalism, globally recognized values. On the contrary, starting with the early ‘90s there were wars even within Europe’s core that caused hundreds of thousands of victims and millions of refugees. Yet the word “war” is cancelled from the dictionary: nowadays conflicts are called “humanitarian bombings”, “peace missions”, or in the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, “a special military operation”. After the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict, the institutional asset imposed through Dayton peace did not satisfy the Country’s national élite’s expectations. So much that, in a context of poverty and unemployment where the nationalists of the Republic of Srpska – which stretches on 49% of the BiH territory – call for independence from Sarajevo in their programs through a unilateral rescission of the constitutional pact formed in Dayton, since 2021 there has been significant risk increase, both perceived and objectively measurable, of a new Balkan war, emphasized by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Within this scenery of great insecurity for the Bosnian population it becomes clear that a rapid integration of the Western Balkans – the anti-historical residual black hole in the continent – into the EU is necessary.

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict between Donbass and Crimea: spatial implications of a hybrid war – The Russian-Ukrainian conflict that began in February 2022 can be considered a peculiar model of «hybrid war»: it’s a conflict fought not only in a conventional way, but also with parallel activities, largely attributable to the world of communication, capable of use digital media strategically. These new modalities of war have particularly concerned Donbass and Crimea, two strategic regions in this conflict, highlighting the usefulness of geographical analysis in this regard. The purpose of this contribution is to illustrate and synthetically analyze the complex spatial roots of this conflict, then skilfully manipulated by the media systems of both sides.

The “renewed” wars of the post-bipolar period and the “new peace”. Analysis and perspectives to highlight the lack of logical, spatial and temporal interruption of today’s phenomena of belligerence. – Since 1989, the global system seems completely changed. The paradoxical equilibrium of the ideological division of the CW faded away, giving way to a chaotic and complex system characterized by the change of the localization of conflicts, the new rules of war and the end of military order. Through the analysis of the debate on the wars and the investigation of existing conflicts, the aim is to highlight how the demise of the established relationship between territory, sovereignty and monopoly of violence, led to a renewal of conflicts and wars, characterized, however, by the persistence of the same logic of power. This does not imply any solution of continuity with the past, but an adaptive evolution that ensures survival; therefore, it is not about new wars but only renewed ones. At the same time, it is highlighted how the boundary between war and peace has now become so weak that it can be considered as a real “contamination” between them.

Conflicts over the land-use of the Gaeta coastal zone (southern Lazio, Italy). – The aim of this contribution is to highlight the conflicts that have arisen over the centuries on Gaeta coastal zone in southern Lazio. The conformation of the Gulf, in which it faces, has favoured its vocation of mooring and therefore of maritime activities since ancient times. However, its defence capacity soon made it impregnable to attack by sea, making it a military fortress, so they interrupted its reputation as a commercial port and refuge for vessel. Fortunately, just outside the fortress, a fishing activity and a shipbuilding industry continued to be. These activities relaunched Gaeta until after the Second World War, and still survive today waiting for a new revival. The destruction of the historic walls also rehabilitated that part of the city that was enclosed there, but in it there are also the NATO fleet support and the military vessels controlling and safeguarding the coast of the entire gulf. Meanwhile, in the last decades, Gaeta has regained the role that had belonged since Roman times to a holiday resort. In the summer months, a large number of tourists pour out, especially on the different beaches that are developed on the coast just off the gulf. Over time, bathing, refreshment and accommodation services have been provided to them, threatening valuable coastal habitats, protected by both the Region and the 2000 Nature Network. This relationship between nature and man can be balanced only if the conditions of co-existence are known and respected. Similarly, it can be said for the maritime activities that develop in the Gulf of Gaeta.

When conflict is not seen. Resilience/resistance and territorial hegemony in the forest territories of Chile. – The central-southern regions of Chile have undergone a socio-ecological reterritorialization in the last forty years due to the conformation of an industrial forest monoculture, associated with a forestry sector structured in an oligopoly, dominated by two holding companies. This paper analyses the territorial relations between the wine sector and the forestry sector in the Itata River Valley sub-region. Wine-growing was born in this territory in Chile in the 17th century and has consolidated over time, becoming a reference point on a national scale. In recent decades it has been subjected to various shocks: from changes in wine-making processes to forest expansion. The results of the research lead us to think of socio-ecological relations in terms of a territorial hegemony operated by the main forest societies in economic, cultural and political terms. In cases where they come into contact with productive activities which are “resilient” to this expansion, such as wine-growing, forestry companies adopt practices of co-optation, favoured by the strength derived from the dimension of multinational holding.

The Geographies of War. Considerations in the Light of the New Role of Space in Conflicts...

Financial Systems between conflictuality and territorial coexistence. Islamic Finance and the United Kingdom case. – Recent years are characterized by the increasing spread of Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) in the Western countries. This could be explained, on the one hand, because the Islamic communities are even more numerous, becoming an important interlocutor and an opportunity for the western economies. On the other hand, Islamic finance Islamic finance has several ethical characteristics that could identify them as a more stable financial model.
The present contribution aims to address the particular issue of Islamic finance, looking at the global diffusion of the phenomenon, in order to understand its differences and conflicts with the traditional financial model.
To this end, it will be treated the case study of the United Kindom where the phenomenon seems to have had more success than in other countries.

 

Perceived Risk Effect and Nimby Syndrome. Analysis of the "No-Tap" Conflict in Puglia. – In the first half of 2017, a series of protests and clashes in the Salento region of Puglia attracted media attention. At the origin of such clashes, there is a desire to counter an infrastructure project with an international scope for environmental, landscaping, economic and social reasons. This is the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which involves the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the Shah Denizinin fields in Azerbaijan to the Italian coast, and then distributed to Europe. Beyond the underlying motivations of mobilization, what emerges as relevant is the phenomenon associated with the environmental conflict, defined in literature as NIMBY syndrome.
The purpose of the paper is to analyze the nature of environmental conflicts, how they emerge, what characteristics they assume and how they can be managed and contained. To this end, will be addressed the issue of risk, perceived risk and probabilistic statistic risk, clarifying the difference, as it is closely related to the theme of environmental conflicts. A review of the literature on the NIMBY and LULU phenomena will be presented, and finally, the case-study of the NO TAP movement in Puglia will be treated.

In the past decades geographers and cartographers have been witnessed the inspiring and multilayered scientific discovery of the second text and power-rhetoric transmitted by maps. Although maps‟ basic function is to help the orientation, this is sometimes challenged due to social, historic, and most of all political rea-sons. This is especially true in contested geographical spaces where con-trasting parties are interested in not only justifying their standpoint but at the same time denying or silencing the opponent‟s similar wish. Based on examples from Cyprus and Karabakh, we present how the power-rhetoric, territorial and political claims influence mapping and how maps justify these claims by applying various cartographic tools and manipula-tions. By analyzing various tourist and road maps, present study shows how the parallel existing narratives are displayed on maps, resulting in exclusionary cartographies. Furthermore, present study argues that maps depicting territorial conflict zones are sometimes influenced and deteri-orated in such a grade that it questions the primer function of a map, namely to help the orientation.

The cartography in the press: the case of  La Repubblica e Le Monde. –  This contribution analyzes the role of the cartography inside the press, italian and french. To such intention, have been compared  the cartographic representations, regarding the libyan conflict of 2011, published by two great daily paper, La Repubblica e Le Monde.

  The objective is that to underline how much the culture geographical influence deeply the conception, the production and the cartographic communication.