Master's in Political Science and International Relations, University of Florence. Member of the Italian Parliament (Chamber of Deputies), Italian Democratic Party; 1996-2001 and 2001-04, Member, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Member, Committee on Foreign Affairs (also current member). 2004-08, Member of the European Parliament; served both as Head of the Italian Delegation and as Member, Foreign Affairs and Financial and Economic Affairs committees. Head of the Foreign Affairs and International Relations Department, Italian Democratic Party. Member, Florence Faculty, Bing Overseas Studies, Stanford University. Has lectured in various universities around the globe, latterly at: University of Geneva; Middle East University, Ankara; Kadir Has University, Istanbul; University of Sidney; La Trobe University, Melbourne. Member of the Board: International Affairs Institute; Institute for Relations of Italy with Africa, Latin America, and the Middle and Far East. Member: Council Italy-United States; Board of Editors, East (European and Asian Strategies). Author of: Semestre nero: Berlusconi e la politica estera (Black semester: Berlusconi and Italian Foreign Policy, 2004); America Take Away (2006).