Explaining one’s own country to foreigners can be a difficult task, so Gianni Riotta (editor of the RAI news program, TG1) has tried to paint a simplified picture for the Wall Street Journal, crafting his article around two basic ideas: the man in charge, probably at his last chance to prove that he can really deliver his promise of substantial reforms, and a country divided in two halves, with a rich and modern North – where everybody has a job and immigrates are easily integrated – and a struggling, problematic South.

But this kind of simplification, as seen from Italy, is highly annoying. Ah, the evils of globalization! 15 years ago, nobody would have cared about what an italian journalist wrote on a US newspaper…

Unlike others (Orientalia4all, Visti da lontano) who criticized Riotta for this article, I do not think that it could actually do any harm to Italy. But it sure is a lost occasion to review some of the new issues that are surfacing as the outcome is discussed, analyzed, expounded and translated. An example, just staying with the North vs South theme: a relevant responsibility role for Lega Nord, which will need to overcome its old secessionist themes and do its part in shaping an inclusive vision for the whole country – leveraging, I bet, the success of Movimento per l’Autonomia in Sicily.