ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 has demonstrated the persistence of the Iraq issue at the top of the American agenda. Whether the object of the analysis is the White House’s policy priority, the media’s commitment to political coverage, or the public’s interest in foreign policy, the Iraq war received constant attention from the three actors here examined, with only minor variations over time. In the French and Italian cases, the situation is somehow different, with the war ranking among the top concerns only at the occurrence of critical events. As shown in the following sections, both the European elite and the press largely focused on the problem (and its possible solutions) when the country’s role in the crisis and its participation in the post-war reconstruction had to be debated (early 2003 and mid-2004, respectively). By contrast, the interest in the issue faded away when the country’s policy towards Iraq was not under challenge. Sudden changes in this trend are observed in conjunction with dramatic events, such as deadly attacks against national troops, kidnappings of citizens or soldiers, and major political achievements.
