No Western leader understands and embraces our cultural inheritance more fully than the Italian prime minister.
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks during a joint statement with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the end of Italian-German government consultations at Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome, Italy, January 23, 2026.
Remo Casilli/Reuters
Since the creation of NATO in 1949, the most eloquent defender of the democratic ideals of the West has been the United States. Today, that role arguably belongs to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“When I speak about the West, I don’t speak about the geographical space,” Meloni said during a meeting at the White House last year. “I speak about the civilization. And I want to make that civilization stronger.”
About the Author
Joseph Loconte is the director of The Rivendell Center in New York City and the author of The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945. He serves as a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute and as the C.S. Lewis Scholar for Public Life at Grove City College. He is at work on a documentary film about the impact of war on the lives of Tolkien and Lewis.
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Since the creation of NATO in 1949, the most eloquent defender of the democratic ideals of the West has been the United States. Today, that role arguably belongs to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“When I speak about the West, I don’t speak about the geographical space,” Meloni said during a meeting at the White House last year. “I speak about the civilization. And I want to make that civilization stronger.”
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About the Author
Joseph Loconte is the director of The Rivendell Center in New York City and the author of The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945. He serves as a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute and as the C.S. Lewis Scholar for Public Life at Grove City College. He is at work on a documentary film about the impact of war on the lives of Tolkien and Lewis.
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