Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T18:01:26.205Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Italian Foreign Policy in the ‘Second Republic’. Changes of Form and Substance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2016

Abstract

The birth of the ‘Second Republic’ was at least partially due to the changes in international relations in Europe and the rest of the world. The instablity in the Balkans forced Italy to face security issues close to home, while instability in the Middle East meant that Italy had to reconsider its energy security policy as well as military security in the region. The change in the form of government in Italy under both the centre-right and centre-left has involved the Prime Minister taking on a much more important role in foreign policy. The two traditional pillars of Italian foreign policy—Atlanticism and an attachment to the European institutions—have remained largely unchanged, but their relative importance and emphasis have altered markedly with the alternation of administrations. During the course of the Second Republic we can therefore conclude that Italy has moved from being a ‘consumer of security’ to being a ‘producer of security’ due to a combination of external necessities and internal reforms.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Association for the study of Modern Italy 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acconcia, G. (2006) ‘L'Italia iperattiva che cerca il dialogo con Teheran’, October 2006, www.affarinternazionali.it/articolo.asp?ID=198.Google Scholar
Aliboni, R. (1999) ‘Italy and the Mediterranean in the 1990s’, in The Foreign Policies of the European Union's Mediterranean States and Applicant Countries in the 1990s , eds Stavridis, Stelios, Couloumbis, Theodore, Veremis, Thanos and Waites, Neville, Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 7397.Google Scholar
Andreatta, F. (2001) ‘Italy at a crossroads: the foreign policy of a medium power after the end of bipolarity’, Daedalus , Vol. 130, no. 2, pp. 4565.Google Scholar
Bonvicini, G. (1996) ‘Regional reassertion: the dilemmas of Italy’, in The Actors in Europe's Foreign Policy , ed. Hill, Christopher, Routledge, London, pp. 90107.Google Scholar
Brighi, E. (forthcoming)Europe, the US and the “policy of the pendulum”: the importance of foreign policy paradigms in the foreign policy of Italy (1989–2005)’, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans , special issue on Italian foreign policy, also at www.psa.ac.uk/2006/pps/Brighi.pdf.Google Scholar
Croci, O. (forthcoming)Staying the course: Atlanticism and Europeanism in Italian foreign policy’, Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans , special issue on Italian foreign policy.Google Scholar
Fassino, P. (1998) ‘Come contare di più’, LiMes , Vol. 1, pp. 3134.Google Scholar
Frattini, F. (with Panella, C.) (2004) Cambiamo rotta. La nuova politica estera dell'Italia , Piemme, Casale Monferrato.Google Scholar
Greco, E. (2004) ‘La politica estera dell'Italia’, in L'Italia e la politica internazionale , eds Colombo, A. and Ronzitti, N., Il Mulino, Bologna, pp. 4965.Google Scholar
Ignazi, P. (2004) ‘Al di là dell'Atlantico, al di qua dell'Europa. Dove va la politica estera italiana’, Il Mulino , Vol. 704, no. 6, pp. 267276.Google Scholar
Mammone, A. (2006) ‘A daily revision of the past: fascism, anti-fascism and memory in contemporary Italy’, Modern Italy , Vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 211226.Google Scholar
Molinari, M. (2000) L'Interesse Nazionale, Dieci storie dell'Italia nel mondo , Bari, Laterza.Google Scholar
Piason, F. (1986) ‘Italian foreign policy: the Achille Lauro affair’, in Italian Politics: A Review , Vol. 1, eds Leonardi, Robert and Nanetti, Raffaella, Pinter, London, pp. 146163.Google Scholar
Romano, S. (1995) ‘La politica estera italiana’, Il Mulino , Vol. 64, no. 1 Jan–Feb, pp. 6370.Google Scholar
Romano, S. (2002) Guida alla politica estera italiana, Dal crollo del fascismo al crollo del comunismo , Rizzoli, Milan.Google Scholar
Romano, S. (2004) Guida alla politica estera italiana, Dal crollo del fascismo al crollo del comunismo , Rizzoli, Milan.Google Scholar
Romano, S. (2006) ‘Berlusconi: il rovesciamento delle priorità tradizionali’, Affari internazionali , www.affarinternazionali.it/articolo.asp?ID=143 (accessed 15 June 2006).Google Scholar
Silj, A., (ed.) (1998) L'Alleato scomodo. I rapporti tra Roma e Washington nel Mediterraneo: Sigonella e Ghedaffi , Corbaccio, Milan.Google Scholar