The 15th edition of the Trans-Regional Seapower Symposium (T-RSS), the biennial international maritime forum, opened this morning at the Italian Navy's Arsenale in Venice, historic home of the Institute for Maritime Military Studies (Istituto di Studi Militari Marittimi). The symposium was opened by the Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy, Admiral Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto, and by the Chief of Defense Staff, General Luciano Portolano, in the presence of Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto.

The event brings together 77 navies and as many as 48 Chiefs of Navy from around the world, alongside international organizations, academia, industry, cultural institutions and representatives of the various maritime clusters. New this year is an exhibition area dedicated to companies, which are showcasing a range of maritime technologies and will also stage live demonstrations in the afternoon.

Equally significant is the distinctly geopolitical and geostrategic focus of this year's edition, reflected in its title, "From regional waters to global influence: generating effects across midland seas of the world." The title captures an essential feature of the current scenario: the capacity of regional dynamics to produce global effects. Seemingly contained crises can affect supply chains, energy markets, freedom of navigation and strategic balances well beyond the area in which they unfold.

Building on these considerations, FWMag, in collaboration with RID, has once again chosen to accompany this event of great relevance for Italy. This year, even more than in previous editions, we set out to produce an X-Tra (available free of charge in electronic format) that would truly go further and push the analysis forward. The aim was a work that examines in depth the major themes shaping today's scenario, and which we believe will shape future scenarios even more: hyper-competition, hybrid and cognitive warfare, crises and competition over global value and supply chains and their manipulation for geopolitical ends, lower barriers to accessing technological innovation, and more.

All this with an eye on maritime security which, in the words of Admiral Berutti Bergotto in his foreword to the X-Tra, "today represents a broader concept than in the past... requiring an integrated approach, capable of involving institutions, the economic sector, industry, the energy world, the scientific community and maritime operators."

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