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The role of the Italian Communist Party (P.C.I.) in the denouement of the Italian party system in the early 1990s was decisive, its dissolution helping to trigger the organizational and electoral collapse of the existing parties. If so, the question that arises is what triggered the dissolution of the P.C.I. A conventional wisdom has developed in the literature that puts the dissolution down to the collapse of the communist regimes in central and eastern Europe, effectively removing the P.C.I. as an agent of its own destiny. Yet, an analysis of the P.C.I.’s final decade reveals a different picture, one that still recognizes the role of international events but as a catalyst to an existing programme of dramatic change which began in the late 1980s in response to an existential crisis of the party. The role of the P.C.I. as an independent agency in charge of its own destiny can be reasserted in revisting this critical period in the party’s and Italy’s history. In doing so, it casts new light on the causes of the denouement of the Italian party system in the early 1990s, contextualizing the role of international events in a longer-term analysis of an enveloping crisis of the P.C.I. in its final decade.

Italy was the first European democracy to be hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The government’s response, especially in the first wave, was confused, dilatory and inadequate, and the country found itself in an unprecedented public health crisis, leading to a national lockdown between March and May. The easing of restrictions in May and an improved situation in the summer did not prevent cases rising again from the autumn onwards, and Italy finished the year in a series of mini-lockdowns. The government was confronted with a debate over Italy’s high death toll and the role of the executive’s own failings in it. Yet, the pandemic did not prompt a political crisis. Rather, it had the effect of blunting the frontal opposition of the League and strengthening the standing of the government with the public. This especially applied to the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, whose personal ratings soared, as the public rallied behind a leader facing the greatest challenge of any peacetime Italian prime minister.

The eurozone crisis had a more significant and longer-lasting impact on Italy than on virtually any other member state, with the effects still visible a decade after. The extent of the shock was surprising in view of progress Italy had apparently made in the 1990s in terms of enhancing its capacity to meet the demands of European Monetary Union. The explanation for this traumatic economic experience lies in Italy’s deep, long-term, structural tensions which were placed under severe pressure during the 1990s and which were cracked open by the 2011 sovereign debt crisis. These have had long-standing economic effects as well as political ramifications in terms of a significant change in the Italy–EU relationship.

Academic associations are a vital part of the academic community, facilitating the interaction of researchers and production of knowledge, yet the impact of Open Access on their future has been too often regarded as marginal to the main discussion. Open Access presents an evident threat to those associations, which have become dependent upon a sizeable proportion of their income coming from owned journals published in conjunction with publishers. Yet, Open Access also presents opportunities, and academic associations should be bold in using a combination of their expertise, prestige and experience in publishing to ensure their futures in a newly emerging market.

This article presents the unique congenital anomaly complex of ipsilateral cerebellar hemisphere duplication and internal, middle, and external ear duplication. Diagnostic techniques included a head CT scan, a three-dimensional head CT scan, and a head MRI. An aberrant notochordal split was proposed as the embryologic mechanism leading to the development of such anomalies.