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Podcast Episode

Gladio: NATO’s secret cold war operation in Italy

Revisited··10 April 2026·16 min

About this episode

One of Europe’s biggest state secrets – and a scandal that still shakes Italy today – was a clandestine army set up by NATO after World War II to block the spread of communism. During the Cold War, cells of the network operated in around ten European countries. In Italy, the covert operation was known by the code name Gladio. Natalia Mendoza, Tommaso Marro, and Laura Roudaut report.