"What is the role Italy is playing in the Balkans?" This volume, published in collaboration with liMes, Rivista Italiana di Geopolitica, revolves around this question. The goal: to give English-speaking readers an authoritative and original picture of the Italian geopolitical scene, both international and domestic. This goal is pursued without departing from the distinct style of the Italian version of liMes: an open mind toward any viewpoint and a focus on specific issues rather than on theories purporting to explain the world with a single formula. In this way CSIS and liMes hope to contribute to the creation of a transatlantic geopolitical forum and to a better understanding, both in the United States and in the international community, of Italy"s role in the post-Cold War world. The present volume offers a range of Italian and U.S. perspectives on the Balkans that will be of interest to readers in the United States. Italians and Americans have a difficult time understanding each other when the subject is the Balkans. From the first moments of Yugoslavia"s disintegration, Italy was defining and defending its interests in the area, sometimes finding itself at variance with the United States. Readers of this volume will discover a number of differences between the approaches of Italy and the United States, more than would be expected from nations that are allies and friends.