Il Foglio

The Elefantino editorial

The war with Spain is senseless. The watchword: full retreat

Italy and Spain have common interests in Europe; to scupper the agreement on the Ceuta deal is a bizarre mistake, a propaganda stunt that echoes like a gigantic belch. Meloni cannot simply deny her immigration policy in this way

Giuliano Ferrara

Immagine di The war with Spain is senseless. The watchword: full retreat

Politics

The day

Sanchez threatens “reopen the borders or face countermeasures”, but Meloni says “no ultimatums – he could have spared us that”

A war of words between Spain and Italy. Palazzo Chigi: “We will not accept ultimatums” and the borders will remain closed until 15 August. The Interior Ministry’s stance. Salvini attacks the Spanish Prime Minister: “Shut up and control your own borders”. And on the Interior Ministry: “I won’t be announcing my visit to Pontida”

Carmelo Caruso

The interview

The outspoken Elena Bonetti to her colleagues: “Let’s not vote for preferences – it’s an obscenity”

An appeal to women in the centre-right: “A vote in favour of the amendment on preferential voting would betray the commitment and tradition that women, including those in the centre-right, have upheld over the years. It would be a renunciation of the struggles that the centre-right itself has championed over the years”

Nicolò Zambelli

Instability for everyone

Meloni and the ‘pure proportional’ system. Conte calls on the Democrats: ‘Will you be my minister?’

The leader of the Five Star Movement has realised, like Meloni, that the electoral stability law is turning into a purely proportional system. Graziano Delrio: “No coalition will manage to reach 42 per cent. No one will get the majority bonus and everyone will want to stand on their own.”

Carmelo Caruso

The Lega’s sense of disorientation

The two Giorgettis. In Milan (with Romeo) he dreams of a new League; in Rome on 8 September he is reviving Salvini’s League

First, he will attend the meeting with the regional governors to bring about a change of direction, and then the meeting with Durigon and Salvini to defend Salvini. The event will take place on 8 and 9 September, before Pontida, in Rome. Salvini on the Ministry of the Interior: “I won’t be going”

Carmelo Caruso

the editor’s editorial

Putin’s postcards to Europe. A study by anti-propaganda activists

The lack of interest in the drone in Leipzig is indicative of a widespread denial: denying the Russian threat to justify a form of pacifism that amounts to waving the white flag. How Putin’s war on Europe works

Claudio Cerasa

the controversy

Marcinelle: Meloni attacks the CGIL: “They’ve turned their backs on La Russa. Shameful.” Landini denies this

“An act of contempt towards the state institutions at the very moment when Italy is paying tribute to 262 victims,” says the Prime Minister. Fidanza (FdI): “The left must distance itself.” The trade union secretary’s response: “Lies. She’s got sunstroke.” The Belgian trade union FGTB has claimed responsibility for the act

Redazione

A paradise for everyone

To Each Their Albania

Italian TV host Myrta Merlino is moving to San Marino TV. But every celebrity needs a Plan B: Channel 7, Channel 8, Channel 9 — or another country altogether. From Agon Channel’s Albanian adventure to Pupo in Central Asia and Roberto Mancini in Saudi Arabia, everyone has their Albania.

Michele Masneri

World

America’s selfishness

Trump’s cruel about-turn on the Patriots. The ocean is the measure of indifference

The US president first promised Ukraine interceptors, then reneged on the promise because “we need them too”. This U-turn leaves Kyiv exposed to Russian missiles, whilst, one year on from Anchorage, negotiations remain at a standstill

Paola Peduzzi

Population and defence

Taiwan prepares for the worst-case scenario

As China’s military pressure grows, President Lai Ching-te joins the island’s largest annual defense drill, testing not only its armed forces but the survival of the government itself

Giulia Pompili

propaganda in the auditorium

Moscow is keen on superheroes

A Kolobok versus Spider-Man? The debate fuelling discontent in Russian cinemas

Micol Flammini

Magazine

Not just Vannacci. Generali d’Italia. Great stories, achievements, heroes and aspirations

By taking to the field, the generalissimo has broken a taboo dating back to the unification of Italy. But there is an entire military leadership far better prepared than the political one. From Miceli to De Lorenzo, all of Italy’s contradictions are reflected in the generals who wore ‘fake beards’, as Cossiga would have put it. Portraits and dilemmas

Stefano Cingolani

The Nuremberg Trials /2

Goering and then the others

With the leading architects of the Nazi regime either dead or missing, the Allies selected the defendants, albeit on the basis of questionable legal criteria. Starting with the Reich Marshal, a brilliant intellect and a figure of ruthless unscrupulousness

Carlo Nordio

il foglio sportivo

Il Foglio Sportivo

Battocletti, our middle-distance queen, isn’t one to settle for less

Chasing double gold: “Every race has its own story; I want to give it my all right up to the very last lap”

Mario Leone

IL FOGLIO SPORTIVO

The youngsters are coming off the bench

The average age of managers in Serie A is falling. This is partly a financial decision

Michele Tossani

The sports page

A tale of tales. Body and power: when sport becomes a struggle against fate

Alejandra Pizarnik has written the perfect epigraph for reading two novels side by side that deal with sport and how the body reacts under pressure: Giulia Della Cioppa, "La mancina" (Bompiani, 2026) and Luigi Guelpa, "La lunga marcia della tartaruga. Una partita contro il destino" (DeriveApprodi, 2026)

Mauro Berruto

Il Foglio Sportivo – A PORTRAIT OF BONANZA

Signed by Fabio Paratici

Paratici is attempting to restore to the sporting director the role that football has taken away from him, putting the transfer market back at the heart of a vision centred on the team and victory. In Florence, the model is clear: fewer agents, more expertise and vision

Alessandro Bonan

security and identity crisis

Putin’s plans for the NATO crisis

Revelations from the Wall Street Journal, fears of false-flag operations. What are the risks facing the Atlantic Alliance in the coming months, and why might Moscow strike?

Micol Flammini

all incursions in 2026

The Russian threat to Europe explained to those who do not want to understand it

Drones in NATO countries’ airspace, military aircraft over the Baltic, GPS jamming, spy ships, submarines near critical infrastructure, men accused of working for Russian intelligence, disinformation campaigns, cyber-espionage operations, oil tankers from the ‘shadow fleet’, missiles landing beyond Ukraine’s borders. A map of Putin’s pressure

the report

Putin’s unconventional war against Europe

Nuclear bases, airports, ports and ghost ships. This is how Russia studies our defences without declaring war. A report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies

terrace

Mid-August in Transylvania

Forget Capalbio: it’s much better in Romania at King Carlo’s. The experience includes colourful wooden houses, enchanting landscapes and a mixed population, obviously in perpetual conflict

Camilla Baresani

noi e il potere

the root of the problem

The European Union’s perennial crisis is historical, not political

Enlightenment and bureaucratic harmony are not enough to build Europe: the dream that the EU institutions have betrayed

Michele Silenzi

Words for our times /5

Damn reason of state. It hasn’t disappeared; it’s back at work

For decades, liberal democracy was conceived as a means of overcoming the original conflict, but the present shows that force is a constitutive element that has simply changed its actors and forms of expression

Lorenzo Castellani

the dissident author

Understanding Putin’s language with Mikhail Shishkin

One of Russia’s great living writers reveals the peculiar relationship between words and meanings in the world of the Kremlin. How many lies has the West swallowed?

Marco Archetti

Artificial study

AI renders many university assessments (notably the dissertation) worthless. Let’s return to oral assessment

The University of Modena and Reggio has made 30,000 licences available to lecturers and students to use artificial intelligence ‘as a support’. But understanding concepts and processing information is precisely what studying is all about. If we delegate this to AI, it is tantamount to encouraging people to stop thinking. A proposal

Tommaso Tuppini

Screenshot. Things from our screens

LinkedIn and Substack take a stand against sloppy writing

Two predominantly text-based platforms have announced similar programmes to restrict AI-generated content. But is this really possible? And why now, of all times? At the heart of it all is Pangram, an ‘AI detector’ that’s selling very well but doesn’t work miracles

Pietro Minto

The video

American cinema seen through the windscreen: a journey to the Skyview Drive-In

Cars, popcorn, huge outdoor screens and brilliant films: the Skyview Drive-In is one of the few still in operation in the United States and continues to uphold one of the great traditions of ‘made in the USA’ entertainment

Gianluca De Angelis

Video

Covers in New York

Saul Steinberg, the extraordinary emigrant

A Romanian man who flees anti-Semitism and arrives in Italy, only to flee once more to the United States when racial laws are introduced here too. In his drawings, perspective and spatiality are always central to the composition

Giulio Silvano

nonsense and rigour

The academy ignored the warnings; today it is taking a stand against Trump and Jason Arday

The ‘intellectual frauds’ exposed by Alan Sokal and the ‘little Mozart’ of diversity who has resigned. Someone who didn’t cheat by breaking the rules; if anything, he understood the game

Andrea Minuz

Immagine di The academy ignored the warnings; today it is taking a stand against Trump and Jason Arday

The Modernist Centre

Rotterdam: from the heart of Dutch pragmatism to the ‘Manhattan on the Meuse’

Wandering through this Dutch city, a place scarred by the past yet hungry for the future. Today it is the beating heart of European architecture, and aims to overtake Amsterdam as a leading tourist destination

Tommaso Ricci

Immagine di Rotterdam: from the heart of Dutch pragmatism to the ‘Manhattan on the Meuse’

Makkox

Cartoons of Makkox 2026

Editorials

editorial

The MPS Odyssey as told by Lovaglio

The CEO of the Siena-based bank compares himself to Ulysses and sends cryptic signals about the future to shareholders. Bluff or reality?

Redazione

Editorials

Please refrain from criticising me, sir. Childishness in power with J. D. Vance

The US Vice-President, offended by a commentator who criticised him for making a mess of things in Iran, accuses him of ‘never missing out on a burrito’. Few arguments and plenty of insults

Redazione

Editorials

Elon Musk’s ‘Doge’ wasn’t actually that efficient after all

According to the Government Accountability Office, the figures from the Department for Public Administration Efficiency, set up by the entrepreneur, are "incorrect" or "unverifiable". The figure that keeps cropping up, however, is the toll in human lives

Redazione

letture

overbooking

Eighty years of sweaty skin and socks in sandals

In one of his lesser-known works, Italo Calvino wrote: “After the Second World War, democracy arrived, that is to say, the whole population going to the public baths.” A reality that has not changed

Antonio Gurrado

A stack of books

The subversive power of moderation

Balance is all the more necessary at a time when fervour and excessive enthusiasm for any political cause, however noble it may be, seem to make us forget how easily they can lead to fanaticism and fundamentalism. Aurelian Craiutu’s book

Carlo Marsonet

the reprint

Lytton Strachey and his collection of ‘miniature portraits’

In his book, which has just been published in a new translation, the Bloomsbury Group writer displays his characteristic humour whilst at the same time raising questions of great depth

Matteo Marchesini

creativity and faith

José Tolentino de Mendonça, the cardinal who brought contemporary art back to the Vatican

A religious poet who recognised contemporary artists as essential interlocutors for the Church today. It is no coincidence that, for him, the word is humanity’s greatest invention

Francesco Stocchi

Immagine di José Tolentino de Mendonça, the cardinal who brought contemporary art back to the Vatican

Il Foglio sportivo

Argentina is the only country to come to Infantino’s defence

Even the FIFA Legends, who have been pampered for years, are turning their backs on the head of the Federation who is seeking re-election. All that remains is to applaud UEFA President Ceferin and the President of the Norwegian Football Federation, Lise Klaveness

Jack O'Malley

Immagine di Argentina is the only country to come to Infantino’s defence

art scene

Art is for the few, whilst the city is for everyone. Flavio Favelli speaks

“The function of art today is to escape administration, good taste, beauty and the common good. Art is elitist, but not for those who have a credit card, but for those who have the time to look and reflect.” Interview

Francesco Stocchi

e Gabriele Sassone

Immagine di Art is for the few, whilst the city is for everyone. Flavio Favelli speaks

feline power

The iconic Larry and the other cats who rule the world

Andy Burnham will not be taking his dog to Downing Street so as not to upset the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. A brief political history of the only animal ‘that has managed to tame man’

Maurizio Stefanini

The Island of Cats

Cuddling cats in a protected bird sanctuary. The damage caused by good intentions

What better place than an area set aside for the protection of the Queen’s falcon to breed cats – predators considered to be among ‘the hundred most harmful species in the world’? A bizarre story on a small island south of Sardinia

Mattia Manoni

Books

Il Foglio della Moda

The Art of Putting Ulysses to Sleep

Two days in Morocco discussing (yes) luxury. Envisioning beauty as “a form of freedom”

Giuseppe Fantasia

Il Foglio della Moda

Thank goodness Angelica Hicks reminds us to laugh it off

The illustrator’s Instagram account, where she recreates the most photographed outfits of the moment using everyday materials, is approaching one million followers, and fashion designers are queuing up to comment on her imitations made from lemon nets and toilet paper

Gianluca Cantaro

Holidays of yesteryear

Armani and the donkey from Corfu

From Armani to Versace, from Valentino to Rocco Barocco: the summers of the great masters of fashion were an extension of their creative vision. Today, amidst social media, yachts and carefully curated posts, what remains above all is ostentation

Tony di Corcia

Profile

The summer of divine pastels. Francesca Dimina tells her story

This month’s wrap artist in their own words. Which couldn’t be more effective

Francesca Dimina