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Travel Weekly
01-06-2025
- General
- Travel Weekly
Towers and curiosities: San Marino rewards a detour
Europe is a good hunting ground for collectors of microstates: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Vatican City, Malta, San Marino and Monaco qualify by dint of size and population. Two are completely within Italy's borders. The smallest of the small, Vatican City (less than a fifth of a square mile in size) gets almost 7 million visitors a year. Only a fraction of that number makes it to the 24-square-mile Republic of San Marino, located 18 miles southwest of Rimini and 80 miles southeast of Bologna. Its status as an independent republic was a fluke of history: When Giuseppe Garibaldi was trying to unify Italy in the 19th century, he ran into trouble and took refuge in San Marino, which had been independent for some 1,500 years at that point. When he asked for refuge, it was granted, but conditional: San Marino must not be incorporated into Italy. Garibaldi agreed and kept his promise. The altar at the Basilica di San Marino has a statue of Saint Marinus, the microstate's namesake. Photo Credit: Arnie Weissmann Today, it is among the more interesting microstates, in large measure owing to its centuries-old defenses. The walled part of the state rises quite steeply and is topped by towers and fortifications that are picturesque and command stunning views. On a clear day you can see the Adriatic, 6 miles away. The fortified towers, and the paths between them, are the main attraction of San Marino. They can be visited upon purchase of an 11-euro ticket (a bit more than $12). The first two feature courtyards, prison cells and museums; the third can be visited but not entered. The town's basilica, still in use, can't compare to St. Peter's in Vatican City (or, frankly, dozens of others in Italy) but is worthwhile entering for its architecture, statuary, paintings and relics. Like most of the other smallest countries, San Marino makes a fair amount of its revenue from the sale of stamps and coins (there are 10 post offices). Should you want the tourist office to put a stamp on your passport, it will cost just over $6. And similar to other microstates, San Marino relies heavily on tourism. Part of what makes these countries interesting to visitors is how, ultimately, they differentiate themselves. Unlike Andorra, it doesn't rely on duty-free shopping, but shopping is a distinguishing factor nonetheless: Its liberal gun laws mean that a significant percentage of the shops next to souvenir stands and toy stores sell weapons, from pistols and rifles to sinister-looking knives and swords. (There is a store that comes close to trademark infringement, calling itself "Target.") San Marino has liberal firearm laws, and weapon shops sit cheek-by-jowl with souvenir and toy stores. Photo Credit: Arnie Weissmann There's also a distillery in San Marino that turns out a surprisingly good vodka and amaro, an herbal liqueur. The liquor store I went into also had a variety of wine bottles with labels featuring world leaders from Hitler to Stalin, Obama and Trump. It would be no surprise that San Marino has a Stamp and Coin Museum and exhibits and multimedia presentations featuring its history, but it also has private museums that are, to put it mildly, quirky. There's the Museum of Curiosities, featuring oddball inventions. There's a wax museum that has a special focus on re-creating scenes of torture, perhaps to compete with the Museum of Medieval Criminology and Torture, which is just an easy stroll from the Museum of Creatures of the Night -- Vampires and Werewolves. The main street entering the walled city with the Palazzo Pubblico in the background. Photo Credit: Arnie Weissmann Restaurant menus in San Marino are indistinguishable from those in nearby Italian towns, and the grocery stores are stocked primarily with Italian products. But keep your eyes open for locally produced olives, olive oil and ricotta cheese. The town punches above its weight when it comes to festivals, with several every month. A wine, food and music festival, car and bicycle races, jazz and classical music festivals are somewhat similar to what's held in surrounding Italy, but San Marino also veers into unexpected territory, hosting a steampunk party, a board game convention, archery contests and gatherings for fans of comic books and Vespas. I completed my collection of European microstates with San Marino and would add it to the list of those that merit clients going out of their way to see. It's within Italy, but it's not Italy. And despite its focus on weapons and the macabre, it ultimately lives up to its former formal billing: "The Serene Republic of San Marino."
CNA
22-04-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Global warming is a security threat and armies must adapt: Experts
22 Apr 2025 03:42PM (Updated: 22 Apr 2025 03:45PM) PARIS: From responding to weather disasters to rising competition in the fast-warming Arctic, militaries are exposed to climate change and cannot let it become a strategic "blind spot", security experts say. Concerns have grown recently that climate action is being sidelined as Europe beefs up defence and the US retreats from allies and its green commitments. But defence departments have already underscored that a warming planet poses major national security challenges, and militaries need to adapt to respond to these evolving threats. "You can't escape this. Climate doesn't care who's president or what your political goals are at the moment," said Erin Sikorsky, director of the Washington-based Center for Climate & Security. "It is coming, and militaries need to be prepared," she said. In the US, where President Donald Trump's administration has scrubbed global warming from government websites, the latest intelligence threat assessment made no mention of climate change. Sikorsky said this leaves crucial strategic gaps, particularly when it comes to renewable energy superpower China and the race for supremacy in the Arctic, where the loss of sea ice is opening up shipping lanes and access to resources. "What I worry about, as someone who worked in national security for a long time, is this blind spot puts the US at risk," she said. In Europe, Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked energy security fears and accelerated many countries' renewables ambitions. But in recent months countries have slashed international development aid, throwing climate budgets into question as spending priorities turn to defence and trade. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock last month acknowledged the "extremely challenging" geopolitical situation but insisted that climate action remained a "top security policy". The country plans a half trillion dollar spending "bazooka" for military and infrastructure, coupled with €100 for climate measures. The Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian aircraft carrier, is pictured during the Nordic Response 24 military exercise on Mar 10, 2024, at sea near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle in Norway. (Photo: AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand) "Anyone thinking about security needs to think about climate as well. We are already living in the climate crisis," said an assessment commissioned by Germany's foreign and defence ministries in February. It said climate challenges were emerging over "the entire range of military tasks", with increased risks including large-scale crop failures, conflict and instability. In a September report, the UK's Ministry of Defense said humanity's impact on climate and the environment "continues to have far-reaching consequences, putting significant pressure on societies and economies and threatening the very existence of some states". Militaries are increasingly being called in following floods, storms and wildfires, stretching the capacity of some forces, said Sikorsky, whose organisation has tracked more than 500 such emergency responses across the world since 2022. There have also been efforts to "weaponise" climate disasters, she said. Last year, torrential rains unleashed by Storm Boris caused massive flooding in Poland that swept away bridges, and destroyed homes and schools. But as soldiers helped evacuate residents and clear debris, the government said it faced a 300 per cent increase in Russian online disinformation, targeting the relief effort. Sikorsky said China used the same "playbook" in the aftermath of deadly floods in Valencia, Spain, which also saw thousands of soldiers deployed. Warming itself also has major operational implications. Extreme temperatures can risk the health of soldiers and even reduce the amount of cargo that planes can carry, said Sikorsky. Militaries are not required to report their greenhouse gas emissions, so their direct contribution to global warming is not precisely known. But a 2024 report by the European Union estimated the carbon "bootprint" of the world's armies could be 5.5 per cent of global emissions. The Pentagon alone produced more emissions than nations like Portugal or Denmark, the "Greening the Armies" report said. Armies worried about fossil fuel dependence long before climate change became a priority - concerns go back to the oil crisis in the 1970s, said Duncan Depledge from Loughborough University, who studies the implications of climate for militaries. According to a 2019 study, the US army consumed about a gallon of fuel per soldier per day in World War Two. During the 1990-91 Gulf War it was around four gallons, and by 2006 it had surged to some 16 gallons in US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. A heavy reliance on fossil fuels creates "significant vulnerabilities" in combat, said the EU report. Fuel convoys are an easy target for roadside bombs, which accounted for nearly half of American deaths in Iraq and close to 40 per cent in Afghanistan, it said. Renewable energy could help avoid these risks, the report said, but acknowledged the technology was "not yet entirely suitable for combat". Depledge said a faster global energy transition to avert "climate catastrophe" would pose challenges for armies, likely raising concerns over their fossil fuel use. "Whichever direction you go, militaries no longer have a choice about the fact that they're going to be operating in a very different world to what they do today," he said. climate change
