Roberto Toscano has been an Italian career diplomat from 1969 to 2010, serving in a number of posts. Among them, as ambassador, Iran and India. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he was for a number of years in charge of Policy Planning. At present he is a columnist for the Rome daily La Repubblica, President of Reset DOC and President of the Fondazione Intercultura. He teaches Ethics and International Relations at IE University, Madrid.

Toscano published several journal essays on international themes as well as the books: Soviet human rights policy and Perestroika (1989); Il volto del nemico. La sfida dell’etica nelle relazioni internazionali (The face of the enemy. The challenge of ethics in international relations) (2000); La violenza, le regole (Violence, rules) (2006); Beyond Violence: Principles for an Open Century, written with Ramin Jahanbegloo (2009) and Between Terrorism and Global Governance: Essays on Violence, Ethics and International Law (2009).