Aldo Moro and his idea of

EuropeEurope

By Stefano Mangini and Stefano Mangini

To remember Aldo Moro on occasion of his 30th anniversary of death, an International Conference was held in Rome in November 2008 ‘‘The Governance of Societies in the 21st Century Thinking Back to Aldo Moro’’

The aims of the conference were:

•Discussing about changes linked to ‘‘post-modern society’’ and the question of how to govern societies that can no longer be governed by means of the usual instruments;• Focusing on the figure of Aldo Moro, who was the first to foresee those changes.

The main séances were five:Italy and Europe In International Relations Change Processes;Building Consensus In Contemporary Societies;Aldo Moro In Historiographic Research;Religion and Democracy;Constituent Processes and The Achieving of Democracy.

• First Séance Italy and Europe In International Relations Change ProcessesItaly and Europe In International Relations Change Processes

The first séance focuses on the theme of the Role that Italy and Europe are called upon to play within the intenational scenario.

Moro divided his ‘’foreign policy’’ into three counts:

• The first concerns East-West Relations: he was one of the most careful promoters of the ‘‘strategy of detente’’, aiming to establish relations based on mutual trust that is taken as a single effective guarantee for peace.

• The second aspect is the Construction of a United Europe: he tried to make Europe unite starting from simplest bonds, such as social, cultural and economic cooperation on an equal footing.

This is a “high” idea of Europe that contrasted with the prevailing interpretation of Europe as a common economic space or as a political tool mainly geared to safeguarding the interests of the member states.

• The third one concerns North-South Relations: he wanted to strengthen the instruments of international cooperation, as well as the safeguarding of human rights.

• Second Séance BuildingBuilding ConsensusConsensus In Contemporary SocietiesIn Contemporary Societies The second séance focused on the theme of Consensus-Building around the

great political decisions since the fragmentation among different political parties was getting more and more complex

Even though Moro lived during the first years of the so called post modern period, he could understand both pros and cons of this new society: not by chance, he repeatedly stressed the weakness of politics, the fragility of the political parties and the risks linked to them.

• Third Séance Aldo Moro In Historiographic ResearchAldo Moro In Historiographic Research The third séance was about the Historiographic Research On Aldo Moro. The aim was to promote a

debate on Three Important Issues:

• The first focuses on the availability and quality of historiographic sources used to analyze Aldo Moro.

• The second question is about the research strategy for approaching this complex figure : since he was a great stateman and he had an important impact on his country’s development it will also be important to grasp the weight the events connected to his death have had. Indeed, the last days of Moro’s life have been the object of many publications that have contributed to creating a sort of “veil” on his overall political and human life or, worse still, have distorted its interpretation.

• The third question deals with the risk in the Historiographic analysis of the entire period that saw Moro among the leading figures. It was a particulary complex period, not only for the political events but also for the rapid great changes.

• Fourth Seance Religions and DemocracyReligions and Democracy The fourth séance focuses on a reflection the Relation Between Religions and Democracy. This

relation seems to be on at least three different levels, which are to some extent found also in Moro’s political action and orientations.

• The first level is defined by the relation established between Religion and Politics in the Sphere of

Personal Choice. It is evident how Moro had tried to put forward essential mediation elements between the two

• The second one is the relationship between Religions and Democracy in the latter half of the 20° century. He linked this relationship to the affirmation of Pluralism. In Moro’s opnion, pluralism should be nurtured on diversity. It could only came about if every religion and cultural opinion were put in the condition to fully ‘‘give its best’’

• The third one focuses on the relationship between faith and politics. With the emergence of increasingly more multiethnic and multicultural societies, the influence of religions has certainly progressively grown, not rarely leading to conflictual situations. For this reason, Moro mantained a careful behaviour.

• Fifth Séance Constituent Processes And The Achieving Of DemocracyConstituent Processes And The Achieving Of Democracy The last séance focuses on what could be defined ‘‘ Costituent Processes’’. This expression is usually used by observers to refer to social, cultural and economic type phenomena that modify the relations between political institutions and citizens continuously

redefining their rights, duties, responsibilities and spheres of action .

• In many respects, Moro anticipated this Dynamic and “Meta-Juridical” vision of processes: he actually devised a peculiar approach to these processes, geared to recognising the values emerging in society (tolerance, equality, peace, secularism, respect for individual freedom), in order to go beyond nationalism and colonialism. As a matter of fact democracy must not be viewed only from a political point of view, but also in a social sense recognising a link between the enjoyment of democratic freedoms and the full manifestation of each individual’s personality and orientations.