Unlike Mr D'Alema, whose own party is the coalition's biggest, Mr Amato has no personal base, so may try to cast himself as primus inter pares.

ECONOMIST: Giuliano Amato, Italy??s agile stopgap

It is a charge that resonates beyond romantics who recall the post-war golden age of cabinet government when Whitehall was a collection of ministerial baronies, each run by a big beast and overseen by a prime minister who was merely primus inter pares.

ECONOMIST: Reform of the civil service

With growing middle classes and a vast array of natural resources, the countries are also vulnerable in that they are still tied to the fates of other countries: China, which is also a competitor, and Brazil, which is more like a primus inter pares.

FORBES: Brazil, China, Commodities, Key To Latin America's Future, Say IMF And World Bank