In Italy understanding of our defense policies and workings is not widespread, in terms of public knowledge but also in most institutions.

The current geopolitical environment requires greater awareness on the part of citizens. Moreover, the new rules that regulate the approval of military missions abroad as well as weapons procurement programs require the legislators to be more aware of the issues on which they are called to deliberate.

Thus in 2016 the idea of satisfying our hunger for accurate information was born. 2018 followed with the decision to create a cultural association, and Laran was founded. Our goal and our challenge is to bridge this cultural and informational gap in Italy, drawing upon our experiences in legislative life to make information available to everyone.

Our three founding members are Tatiana Basilio (president), Riccardo Ferretti (director) and Massimo Artini (secretary/treasurer). All three are at the forefront of the defense world – of international strategic and geopolitical analysis.

Tatiana Basilio and Massimo Artini have both been elected to the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic for the XVII Legislature with a role in the Defense Commission and Deputy Presidency of the same commission. Their work in examination of parliamentary texts, in the intense activities of labor unions and in active evaluations of our military realities have helped them gain unique experience in a complex and little-known field. Their five years in office have prompted them to put their knowledge and experience to good use.

With the same spirit, Riccardo Ferretti (Director of Panorama Defense and a decade-long expert in the analysis of the defense sectors and international relations) also helped launch the project.

Our dense network of contacts in the Defense Ministry at a national and an international level, the great gaps we detected both in public awareness and in parliament, the limited knowledge of certain topics and the difficulty in obtaining accurate information – these have all led us to follow the path of dissemination, analysis, counseling and training.

With the help and support of young researchers, our goal is to bring more awareness to the defense and energy sectors, to international relations, to military policies and to the defense industry.

The world needs information, the world needs to share knowledge. And we want to play a role in that.