We are very far from recommending the whole of the Italian institutional system as a model. There have been disasters, and there is still so much to change. However, extraordinary competence (technical and moral) has been accumulated in Italy. The conceptual and practical domain that will later on be called “intelligence” contributed to the birth of Venetian supremacy in the trade between the Fertile Crescent and Europe. Integrated with the Machiavellian profiles, the Italian Renaissance was taken as a prototype in Shakespearean and Elizabethan England. From then on, economic intelligence became something pivotal in the Atlantic world.

The Italian political science school has been well known and appreciated also outside Italy, starting with J. Schumpeter. According to J. M. Buchanan, Italian economic theorists can be considered the forefathers of the modern public choice theory, maybe more than the glorious Austrian school.
It is not the tale of the distant past but of a risky present that we have recollected.

Today, the most prominent public positions in Italy see people who have distinguished themselves for their commitment to the fight against mafias, corruption, and fraud. The most obvious example is the current president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi continues an indisputable Italian account of commendable public service. New cooperation in economic and financial intelligence between the public and private sectors is possible and indispensable. Such new cooperation can allow the State and private sector to protect communities and economies adequately. Among the improvements that are necessary and urgent, two areas are indicated in the conclusions of this volume: business intelligence and civic education.

In this book, each author speaks for her/himself. However, there is a shared recognition about something good that has been done in Italy regarding economic and financial intelligence. This recognition is only one side of the coin. All the prestigious national memories are now confronting acute and urgent problems as never before.