Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema is the epitome of the "Old Europe" once mocked by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. But Italy's commitment last week to provide 3,000 troops became the key to forging a strong European-led U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon. France initially offered just 200 troops, in addition to those it already has in Lebanon, before upping its pledge to 2,000. D'Alema, 57, spoke with TIME's Jeff Israely

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nginx/1.14.0 (Ubuntu) about democracy in Lebanon, Hizballah's future and a certain "indispensable nation."

A week ago, Europe appeared on the verge of going AWOL in...