The aim of this book is to raise awareness of authoritarian countries' influence penetration into democracies through cyber-offense, intellectual property theft, media networks spreading propaganda, bots, and fake-news on social networks, and cultural exchanges that may constitute a peril to academic freedom and threaten the freedom of speech in some western institutes. The Age of Sharp Power offers an unedited analysis of the Italian case, unveiling Russia and China network of influence in the "Belpaese" and suggesting how to defend sensible national infrastructure from authoritarian States' penetration.