Mission Italy

This compelling memoir of Richard N. Gardner's years as ambassador to Italy from 1977 to 1981 offers fascinating insights into the foreign policy of the Carter administration as well as into a critical turning point in Italy's history. This turbulent period was marked by the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro, the failed attempt of the Italian Communist Party to take power, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the seizure of American hostages in Tehran. It was also the time of Italy's historic decision to deploy U.S. cruise missiles, which Mikhail Gorbachev identified as a decisive factor in his decision to shift Soviet foreign policy toward genuine disarmament and peaceful cooperation based on the free choice of political systems. Drawing on hitherto classified material, Gardner shows how wise diplomacy under president Jimmy Carter's leadership played a part in the defeat of communism in Italy and in the eventual collapse of the Soviet empire. His riveting diplomatic narrative is filled with fascinating portraits of American and Italian leaders as well as revealing details of policy differences inside the Carter Administration and between Washington and Gardner's Rome Embassy. The result is a major contribution to our understanding of crisis diplomacy and of the victory of the Western alliance in the Cold War. Balanced, scrupulous, and compelling, Gardner's memoir will be invaluable reading for all those interested in the inner workings of U.S. foreign policy, diplomacy, and European politics.

Richard Gardner's book about his time as ambassador to Italy during my administration is a dramatic, accurate account of one of the most difficult and successful diplomatic missions in the history of the Cold War., An exemplary and fascinating story not only of an American intellectual and scholar in Italy, but also of one of the most complex periods in the political life of our country and of Europe., Richard Gardner's account of those years, nourished by his personal records and by previously unpublished documents, helps us to better understand the greatness and smallness of Italian leaders of those times and the role played by the United States on the delicate boundary between an unavoidable active interest and an interference it wished to avoid. Portraits and analyses are presented with great effectiveness., Richard Gardner's memoir of a crucial time in U.S. relations with Italy is both an enthralling story and a significant contribution to the history of the Cold War., I feel I have traveled at Gardner's side through a stirring period of history. That he is able to assemble such detailed recollections has my special admiration and, take my word for it, there is no account of American diplomacy like his.

Richard N. Gardner is professor of law and international organization at Columbia Law School and counsel to the global law firm of Morgan Lewis. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Italy from 1977 to 1981 and as U.S. Ambassador to Spain from 1993 to 1997.