Dentro la Notizia - Voce Racconta · La Voce del Popolo

"La narrazione bellicista è fuorviante": intervista a Nico Piro - 2 aprile 2026

·22 min·2 clips

Global weapons spending hit 2,700 billion dollars in 2024, a 'succulent business' for death over life, says Nico Piro.

The episode features an interview with journalist and writer Nico Piro, who has covered war zones for over 20 years, particularly Afghanistan. Piro introduces his book 'Maledetti Pacifisti', reflecting on peace and bellicist rhetoric. He argues that war has become chronicled and normalized, akin to a 'video game' with real casualties, referencing Pope Francis's idea of a 'Third World War in pieces'. Piro critiques the narrative since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where war stopped being a taboo word and became a tool for Western opposition in a changing world with BRICS and China. He discusses his book 'If you want peace, you know the war', which overturns an old phrase, and emphasizes building a culture of peace through education. Piro highlights the European Re-arm Europe program and how it prioritizes military spending over healthcare and education, skipping debt constraints. He reveals global weapons spending rose from 2,400 billion dollars in 2023 to 2,700 billion in 2024, calling it an 'immoral, succulent business'. Piro mentions the CEI's call for stronger regulations on weapons production and export, contrasting it with Italian government efforts to change transparency laws to facilitate arms sales. He notes Italy sells weapons to Saudi Arabia, a repressive regime with capital executions, and questions consumer responsibility if banks invest in weapons. Piro references Pope Francis's messages for peace and polls showing 80% of Italians oppose war and rearmament, yet governments ignore this will. He criticizes mainstream media as 'indoctrination' that promotes war narratives instead of reflecting public debate. Piro points out forgotten conflicts in Myanmar and South Sudan, arguing media only covers wars tied to Western interests like oil in Iran. He denounces the moral justification of wars as 'liberation', citing civilian casualties in Lebanon and Gaza. On Afghanistan, Piro says deaths stopped after withdrawal, but women are segregated and millions excluded from education, questioning 20 years of war that replaced the Taliban with the Taliban. He concludes by urging a business-like assessment of war costs in Ukraine, advocating for diplomacy over continued conflict.

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