The Pope has been saying prayers for its "peaceful" conclusion. The US State Department has been warning US tourists to steer clear of it. Local burghers and shopkeepers are preparing for the worst.
It is at least arguable that not since it used to rule the Mediterranean in the 12th century has the handsome port of Genoa seen anything like the preparations for next weekend's "Group of Eight" (G8) summit.
When host Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, US President George Bush and the other government leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and the UK sit down to work in Genoa's 14th century Palazzo Ducale, they will do so against the backdrop of a huge, 16,000strong security presence that includes everything from ground-to-air missiles to specialists in germ warfare.
Organisers probably smiled knowingly to themselves when reading a report this week that claimed Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien wants to switch the venue of next year's G8 away from Ottawa to a more remote site in western Canada. The Canadians, of course, are worried about another mass riot in Ottawa similar to the violence that marred the Summit of the Americas in Quebec last April.
It is also safe to say that if Italian government planners had known then what they know now, Genoa would never have been picked to host an event of such a potentially explosive nature. Ever since anti-globalisation groups staged protests at a meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Seattle in 1999, major gatherings of world leaders have become targets for increasingly violent demonstrations.
"Il Popolo di Seattle", as the Italian media has referred to the protesters all summer long, are expected to number anything between 100,000 and 200,000 at Genoa next weekend. Even if the anti-globalisation groups adhere to the network of the Genoa Social Forum, an organisation that has promised to protest peacefully, there none the less remains the all-too obvious risk of serious street violence from autonomous, anarchic or other groups.
That risk is compounded by the very nature of Genoa itself. A city of 650,00 inhabitants, wedged between mountain and sea, Genoa also boasts a mediaeval "centro storico" (old centre) that comprises a veritable rabbit warren of narrow, interlinked streets. Needless to say, the Palazzo Ducale is right in the middle of this warren, making this G8 into a CIA operative's nightmare.
NOT ONLY the recent riots at the European Union summit in Gothenburg, but also the "BB" (Berlusconi/Bush) factor suggest Genoa is likely to be anything but peaceful. President Bush's refusal to ratify the Kyoto environmental accord, on the one hand, and the antipathy of traditionally left-wing protest movements for newly elected centre-right Prime Minister Berlusconi on the other, mean that both are likely, in their different ways, to provide the excuse for violence. No one, it seems, is underestimating such contestation. More than 15,000 policemen, plus navy frogmen, army sharpshooters, 12 air force helicopters and specialists in nuclear, germ and chemical warfare will be deployed. Furthermore, the 2,000strong government delegations and the 6,000-strong journalist pack will both be lodged in boats in the harbour where we can all sleep easy, safe in the knowledge that US aircraft carrier Enterprise, not to mention various Italian navy boats, will be on patrol nearby.
Not that George W. will be lodged in the harbour. Rather, he will stay on land, in an unnamed location.
Concern about President Bush's safety is partly based on CIA reports that Al-Qaida, the terrorist group led by Osama bin Laden, might be planning an attack on the summit. Leaving nothing to chance, the CIA has requested permission to "black out" all cellphone usage in the sealed-off area around the Palazzo Ducale, arguing that cellphones can be used to set off detonation devices.
Although terrorism of any kind is always a major security concern at a gathering like this, it is the anti-globalisation protest that, in the end, is likely to prove the much bigger problem. Coming from all over Europe, Africa, Australia, India and South America, the ill-defined "Seattle People" range from hard-line Marxists to Catholic Church groups, passing through anarchist social centres along the way.
Among the issues many of the groups wish to highlight are reduction of developing world debt, subsidies for the fight against AIDS worldwide, the growing north-south poverty divide, curbs on the arms trade as well as a host of environmental issues including the need to enforce the Kyoto accord.
To some extent, the "Seattle People" have already made their point. On the insistence of the Berlusconi government, and with the backing of state President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, delegations from Algeria, Bangladesh, Mali, Nigeria, San Salvador and South Africa will attend the summit. With this element of typically conciliatory Italian diplomacy, the Berlusconi government hopes to demonstrate its goodwill and its readiness to listen to the concerns of the non-violent protest movements. Whether such a conciliatory gesture will be enough to ensure peace and quiet in Genoa next weekend remains to be seen.
