The pandemic and the digital revolution are changing the global geopolitical landscape. The dispersion of power linked to the new digital decision-making centers is accompanied by a fragmentation of the traditional system of power in the international geopolitical arena. In this scenario, it is difficult to identify who is in charge of sovereignty and governance. A glocal perspective would suggest continuing to look at States, but also at local political entities, such as cities, and super-national cultural identities, such as global civilizations. It is a solution that could allow Italy, and other countries, to avoid what John Agnew called the territorial trap that would push the world system into giving national answers to the growing number of global challenges. In the post-pandemic phase, Italy will face its most important test of resilience since the Second World War. This paper intends to investigate whether and in what terms the Italian State will be able to recognize and make use of the soft power of the Italic community and civilization as a new agent of glocal development. The digital revolution accelerated by the pandemic could in fact transform the digital space into the ideal place for the recognition and strengthening of the global network of Italics around the world. Italic is not simply a synonym for Italian. Italic is someone who appreciates and recognizes the charm of Italy. The Italic does not necessarily have a passport or an Italian bloodline; he can live in Italy or anywhere else. The way of life and the commonality of values is the glue that unites Italics and this can become a soft power of Italy, strengthening the Italian State internally and externally. We refer to that mix of culture, taste, style, quality craftsmanship, fashion, design, high-value manufacturing, electronics, robotics, avant-garde entrepreneurship and gastronomic excellence that gives life to a refined art of living well.

For several years, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has insisted on the need to invest in new technologies to improve the procedures for the identification, reception and redistribution of asylum seekers around the world. United Nations experts have promoted new forms of digital inclusion aimed at both asylum seekers and displaced persons. They consider digital tools to be essential for achieving one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Target 16.9, which by 2030 intends to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration. Biometrics have been used on an experimental basis since the early 2000s to create digital identities in the humanitarian space for those vulnerable persons without traditional identity documents. It is a divisive subject. The aim of this article is to consider, from a geopolitical perspective, if following the acceleration of the digital revolution caused by the pandemic it is possible to invest in technological tools to improve the processes of identification, redistribution and reception of asylum seekers and displaced persons while at the same time respecting their privacy and freedoms. This hypothesis would signal the emergence of a geography of receiving asylum seekers on a global scale based not only on the governance of territory and borders, but also on platform governance.

This special issue of AIMS Geosciences, "Conflicts and landscapes: toward a new Anthropocene?", sought to explore, from a geographical and transcalar perspective, how conflict affects the transformation of landscapes. Focusing on contemporary challenges and criticalities, through the many case studies collected, this special issue offers a critical and timely reading of the identified issue and stands as a first step in a reflection to be continued.