Italian foreign policy is often used as an instrument of rivalry between the ministers of center-right parties. Back and forth across the Atlantic, they ask for American help in resolving internal questions. These moves not only keep the US ally happy but also serve to bolster weight in the government coalition. The aim in general is to outwit Giulio Tremonti with US help or to drive him into a corner. In 2009 ambassador Ronald Spogli wrote: "We have strong allies in Frattini and Ignazio La Russa (defense minister) but they have repeatedly run up against the budget wall erected by Tremonti.

Berlusconi paid lip-service to a strong Italian participation in the new US strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, but is still not committed to ousting Tremonti." And Alessandro Ruben, political advisor to La Russa (now with Gianfranco Fini's new party), says that "the minister is ready to fight for funding, but it is essential for requests to come from the topmost level of the US administration in order to support La Russa's struggle for allocations which would otherwise finish under Tremonti's axe." The Americans handed over a list of priorities to Ruben and Alain Economides, Frattini's cabinet chief, and said "they would try to obtain the widest support from the executive." The valiant Ignazio did everything to keep the Pentagon happy, "giving political coverage to offensive actions by Italy's Folgore regiment in Afghanistan, overturning the long-standing habit of avoiding front-line action", and "inventing creative ways of funding wartime expenditure" but he is "forced to struggle for every euro."

La Russa himself recounts Berlusconi's proposal: "He advised me to obtain the budget cuts only by reducing the number of military personnel in service. But I told him that I didn't agree and that it wasn't possible to make such drastic reductions. So he suggested using larger numbers of carabinieri in overseas operations, but that would have irritated the rest of the armed forces." Regarding a basic question for Italian foreign policy – the Lebanon contingent – Frattini also called for help from US marines. He asked defense secretary Robert Gates "to convince the premier about how important it is for the US, so as to force him to bypass Giulio Tremonti." The problem was the strong link between minister Tremonti and Umberto Bossi, united by the same vision "that the missions are a very poor deal for Italy's key interests."

Tremonti, says one of his collaborators, was not willing to make concessions: "He says he'll include the bare minimum in the budget to keep the Americans happy." There's one case where the Americans feel that La Russa may be playing a triple game. It's a story that the media have practically ignored: purchasing a fleet of large and costly transport aircraft C17s to be used by NATO to supply the troops in Afghanistan. These US-made aircraft would also enable the Pentagon not to lend its own planes to the allies. Italy had been one of the first partners for the initiative, but then withdrew. When the ambassador protested, both Gianni Letta and La Russa blamed Tremonti. Their suggestion was to apply some diplomatic pressure on the premier to make him change his mind. But ambassador Spogli was suspicious: "It seems quite likely that La Russa's staff is using the question of these aircraft as a threat in the budget negotiations. They hope to achieve a high level intervention on their behalf. But nothing is certain in Italy."

ENEMY NUMBER ONE
The WikiLeaks cables show strong US mistrust towards Tremonti: "If he wins, we won't get reinforcements in Afghanistan." And the trouble is that "Tremonti's party colleagues in the PDL often tell us that the main reason why Italy plays an important role in Afghanistan is only because the USA wants it, while people at home would be happy to bring the troops back." To prevent the finance minister from blocking the parachute regiment, Thorne "advises putting Frattini, La Russa and Berlusconi in a position to demonstrate that their counterparts in the Obama administration had turned to them personally." American diffidence towards Tremonti also arises from an analysis of his economic policies.

His strategy for dealing with the financial crisis is not convincing: "No measures have been taken to encourage growth; as a result, Italy will remain in the same condition – always the sick country of Europe, condemned by poor strategies and by demographics to grow more slowly than other countries." The Americans also criticize Tremonti's bonds, "a vehicle for imposing his eclectic economic vision in favor of subjects who have been penalized by globalization, such as small enterprises. Unfortunately many of these companies do not seem able or willing to make the changes required to face the more dynamic market of global competition." All this while the gates have been opened to "non-transparent sovereign funds," such as Libya's investment in Unicredit. At the same time, the Americans are impressed by Renato Brunetta's dynamism. And then there's the usual Mario Baldassarri, always ready to take a critical stance. But the ideal "counterweight" is Mario Draghi, as Francesco Galietti incautiously suggests to the ambassador, "one of the finance minister's loyal collaborators" without realizing the effect of what he is saying. Galietti goes on: "The US administration will find that Mario Draghi is a useful counterweight for Tremonti's plans to reform the market. The Americans will be able to achieve other changes in Italian policies since Berlusconi‚ Draghi and Tremonti take part in negotiations with apparently divided positions." There are important events ahead – the G20 and the G8 – and the Italian finance minister wants to impose "drastic reforms of the controlling bodies for the financial market, something the US authorities are against." But the governor of Bankitalia ignores the US attempt to win him over and refuses to make any comment on the finance minister. But that is the breach to be exploited: "The US administration could gain something by promoting Draghi's competence and painting him in a good light during the talks with the Italian delegation, thereby cooling down Tremonti's draconian impulses." This is because "coordination with Bankitalia is poor; moreover, on economic questions, Berlusconi is pulled in various directions by his advisors." Silvio is adrift. And with him the whole government.

ALL AGAINST ALL A report analyses the latest upheaval in the governing coalition, before the split with the group led by Gianfranco Fini. On 29 October 2009 the premier and Tremonti engaged battle. "At this point, our contacts in the PDL party say that Tremonti is a man of the Northern League. And his veto over populist measures, especially those for southern regions, has made him many enemies in the executive." But the Americans feel that the minister is now mainly concerned with building up a solid political base. "The premier's support evaporated rapidly when Tremonti chaired an Aspen meeting that apparently focused on Italy's future after Berlusconi. This was an obvious signal to unsheathe the long knives."

The embassy follows the crisis step by step. Convening the leaders of the PDL parliamentary groups and setting up meetings with Tremonti himself who "shows confidence since he seems to be used to these clashes as part of the job." Bossi supports him; this is both a strength and a limitation. "Throughout the current crisis, Tremonti has shown a profile that is both political and technical. At the same time, his weakness has been highlighted – apart from Bossi and the Northern League, his political base is small." The conclusions drawn by ambassador Thorne, appointed by Obama, are prophetic: "The current situation shows the strong tension in Berlusconi's government: the Northern League against the PDL party, north against south, pork-barrel spenders against the finance minister who keeps a tight grip on the purse strings... and uneasiness about who will take over when Berlusconi steps down." Sixteen months have gone by, but the picture is still the same – an executive split by power struggles and conflicts of interests, while the Mediterranean goes up in flames. And everyone is waiting for Berlusconi to stand down.