Consultant on international development cooperation and humanitarian action. Internationalist engineer, has worked for the Catholic Church, international nongovernmental organisations and the European Union in post/during-conflict countries like El Salvador, Colombia, Pakistan and Afghanistan for a dozen years. Research interests on issues of state formation, institution-building and security in development.
Deep understanding of social and political processes for institutional development
Strong methodological base on QCA (qualitative comparative analysis)
Custom, data-centric solutions, qualitative and quantitative
Critical security analysis for development, information security, data protection
Entrées
A Bayesian look at the Mullah Omar affair
Regardless of the merits of Bette Dam’s recent report and the solidity of its evidence, a simple Bayesian observation shows that the conditional probability of the Taliban being an ISI proxy given that Mullah Omar lived marginalised in an Afghan village after 2001, is actually greater than its a priori probability.
Digitally signing documents across Europe: an Italian perspective
The European Union’s eIDAS regulation of 2014 sets standards for the mutual recognition and inter-operability of digital signatures and identities across Europe. The user experience from Italy is not so smooth, though.
Barabbas’ version: analysis of a major terror attack in Rome, A.D. 64
(C) NASA/IPAC Our correspondent reports from the great city of the Caesars. A few months ago, on 19th July of the tenth year of divus Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, DCCCXVII a.U.c.,1 a raging fire destroyed large swathes of the city of Rome. To undiscerning eyes it looked like any of the previous fires that Read more about Barabbas’ version: analysis of a major terror attack in Rome, A.D. 64[…]
Participation without power and property in new governance models
Everybody wants more participation, not less. But the current social project for Europe ultimately offers a kind of feeble, diluted participation that we will affectionately call le objet petit p: a participation without effective decision-making powers, that does not affect social property relations. An ancient form of collective property still practiced in Northern Italy suggests Read more about Participation without power and property in new governance models[…]
A user’s vision of a libre, decentralised Internet
In order to make the Internet a freer, more decentralised, less oligarchical place, users should have full control on their online identity and this should be separate from other online services like email, instant messaging, microblogging, social networking etc. Online services, in turn, should be based on open standards, yes like good old email and Read more about A user’s vision of a libre, decentralised Internet[…]
Version control and editorial workflow in Ghost
Ghost2Git — Version control and editorial workflow management for multi-author blogs in Ghost, sort of Ghost offers a great platform for blogging. It’s nimble and neat, a welcome break from WordPress especially if what you want to do is focus on blogging and content and you do not need a general purpose CMS. Ghost Read more about Version control and editorial workflow in Ghost[…]
Kidnapped by Terrorists
Kidnappings by terrorist groups are on the rise globally. The chances of surviving this ordeal vary greatly according to the nationality of the victim. This is particularly true for aid workers, one of the groups worst hit by this plague. Two journalists – an Italian and an Afghan – were abducted in Helmand, Afghanistan ten Read more about Kidnapped by Terrorists[…]
Bringing Zotero to Ghost
The blogging platform Ghost.org has been around for a few years now, bringing a welcome gust of fresh air in the world of blogging infrastructure dominated by the WordPress juggernaut. Ghost is designed to focus on content, a place where you write and read and enjoy doing it, reducing the administrative overhead of blog-keeping. Ghost runs Read more about Bringing Zotero to Ghost[…]
Referendum costituzionale 2016: essere indecisi è paradossalmente normale
Essere confusi e non riuscire a scegliere tra il SI e il NO nel referendum di conferma della riforma costituzionale del 4 dicembre in Italia è normale perché la differenza tra gli effetti delle due opzioni sul funzionamento dell’ordinamento della Repubblica nel medio e lungo periodo è minima. O così dice il paradosso di Fredkin. Sul referendum Read more about Referendum costituzionale 2016: essere indecisi è paradossalmente normale[…]
Colombia: referendum, low turnout and activist minorities
After 52 years of civil war and four years of negotiations, a wafer thin minority of Colombian voters rejected the historical peace agreement with the FARC-EP guerrillas. If the president and his adviser were searching for popular legitimacy, they miscalculated. One decision in particular seems ill advised, the lowering of the minimum threshold of votes Read more about Colombia: referendum, low turnout and activist minorities[…]
Restorative Justice and Political Violence in Democratic Societies
Review of: Guido Bertagna, Adolfo Ceretti and Claudia Mazzucato (eds.), Il libro dell’incontro: vittime e responsabili della lotta armata a confronto. Milan: il Saggiatore, 2015, 466pp., ISBN: 9788842821458. [Lit.: The book of the encounter: victims and militants of the armed struggle face each others] A shorter version of this review has been published on the Read more about Restorative Justice and Political Violence in Democratic Societies[…]
Reading Halliday in Hollywood
Watching El Cid – Anthony Mann’s movie – half a century after its release in 1961 it gives an unmistakable sensation of déjà vu. The representations of yesterday’s villains, the black-clad, fanatical hordes ready to “sweep up from Africa” and conquer “first Spain, then Europe and the whole world” carry uncanny similarities with today’s arch-villains, the Read more about Reading Halliday in Hollywood[…]
Justice and security in inter-cultural Europe
Research report on the qualitative comparative analysis for the ALTERNATIVE project (FP7): “Developing alternative understandings of security and justice through restorative justice approaches in intercultural settings within democratic societies” (2012-2014) Read the full report (pdf) on the ALTERNATIVE project website ALTERNATIVE media platform (videos etc.) Executive summary The ALTERNATIVE project could be imagined as an Read more about Justice and security in inter-cultural Europe[…]
Database solution for qualitative comparative analysis and collaborative research in the social sciences
The ALTERNATIVE project (FP7, 2012-2016) is about Developing alternative understandings of security and justice through restorative justice approaches in intercultural settings within democratic societies. At the project’s core there are four intensive case studies (which mainly take the form of action research activities) built around, supported by and mutually feeding into three more theoretically oriented Read more about Database solution for qualitative comparative analysis and collaborative research in the social sciences[…]
In-Court Securitising Speech-Acts. On the continuous need for re-securitisation of state security
The so-called ‘Copenhagen school’ of security studies has stirred the waters of international relations theory, and perhaps of social sciences in general, since the mid 1990s. It is defined by its trademark epistemological move, reflexively defining security – or rather securitisation – through a speech-act and its consequences (‘it doesn’t matter what security is, but Read more about In-Court Securitising Speech-Acts. On the continuous need for re-securitisation of state security[…]