The first signals about the security strategy of incoming Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi will likely come from the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq and whether or not Prodi will push for the extradition of 22 CIA agents in connection with the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric from Milan.

Both issues are likely to test Italy's relationship with the US, something that comes as no surprise. Because outgoing prime minister Silvio Berlusconi so closely tethered Italy's security strategy to that of the US, the incoming Prodi government is likely to strain relations with Washington by making even the smallest changes.

Full Story>>