Federico Rampini
Federico Rampini (b. 1956) is an Italian journalist. A qualified sociologist, he first worked for Rinascita, the Italian Communist party magazine, then as deputy editor in chief of Il Sole 24 Ore. He was successively Paris, Brussels, San Francisco, Peking, then Washington correspondent for La Repubblica, where he was now has a blog. His latest work, Occidente estremo ("Far West" – Mondadori, 2010), deals with the decadence of the West contrasted with the rise of China.
Updated: 9 December 2010
The announcement by Italy of a flow of Chinese capital rushing in to support the Italian economy has raised hopes of Beijing riding up to rescue the euro. We must be wary of false hopes, however, writes La Repubblica. China is a prudent and discriminating investor. 
The arrest of the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has deprived the international arena of a key player for Europe, who was able to include a social dimension in IMF intervention in crisis-stricken states. 
Many of the leaked US embassy cables reveal the close personal ties between Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi. For Washington, suspicion is growing that Russia is using Italy as a Trojan horse to influence – by hook or by crook – Europe's energy policies.