Italy is expected to play a growing role in the American global strategy. The American military presence has recently provoked uneasiness in Italian society and growing protests, as a reflex of the weakening of the current global leader in terms of international legitimacy and political support. However, the acceptance of Italy's role by governments of all shades is to be understood within the framework of the Euro-Atlantic pluralistic security community that still allows an improved environment in which it is easier to find co-operative solutions to problems as they arise, and to define common threats.