Sicily: the misfortune (also architectural) of being strategic

Sicily, the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean, also strategically occupies its central geographic position. This position has been its wealth, but over time seems to have increasingly become its bane, paradoxically finding itself disadvantaged precisely by its strategic location. This has often backfired over time, almost like a boomerang. Sicily is seen as an exotic place by Italy and Europe, yet the inestimable strategic value of its location has meant that, in the meantime, the United States has designated it as a control point for the Mediterranean, a geographic sentinel for armed surveillance. Is it possible that nothing else can be done with Sicily? Its borders could be "expanded," rediscovering architecture, landscape and the value of a Mediterranean that will increasingly play a role in the new geostrategic arrangements with North Africa.