There is a fascinating interview in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz with Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, who is also the leader of the Party of the Democratic Left, the former Eurocommunist Party in Italy. After a meeting with Israel's Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, D'Alema agreed to send a robust number of Italian troops to join the international force in Southern Lebanon. In part, perhaps this was a dare to France which momentarily dropped the leadership mantle in this regard-this force being France's idea in the first place. (France has now checked in with a troop commitment of 2000). But, my hunch is that it's also a fierce belief held by D'Alema, of the importance of international intervention in solving the world's problems--and, the role that a social democratic European leadership could play in being a counterweight to the U.S.'s global role.

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