Last weekend, the Italian geopolitical review LIMES organised its 9^th Geopolitics Festival, at Genoa’s majestic Doge’s Palace – the Doge was the sovereign of the now-defunct Genoese Republic. The palace is snug between the rich Jesuit church Chiesa del Gesù e dei Santi Ambrogio e Andrea on one side and the Masonic monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi the Master Mason on the other – perhaps reflecting the trinity that runs Italy. Choosing Genoa as venue was smart: the maritime republic once had a powerful presence in Crimea and controlled the Bosporus.

But whereas the Festival-Conference obviously dealt with current events (Russia, Ukraine, China, Poland, Europe, America…), I was equally intrigued by something else.

Listening to speakers of remarkably high calibre – for instance, the world’s top geopolitical analyst George Friedman was there – I kept making mental notes each time concepts were mentioned that are taken for granted abroad, but are somehow lacking in our local political discourse. Concepts like “rational State”, “national interest”, “a professional bureaucracy serves the State not office holders”, “friendly neutrality”, “a country governed in its own interest not in the interest of others”, and so on.

The more I listened, the greater was my disappointment. It became increasingly clear we’ve regressed in Malta. The political vision has…