Italian Foreign Policy: Still the Days Seem the Same?

This chapter examines change in Italian foreign policy since the end of the Cold War and its drivers. The most fundamental alteration during this period concerns the area of security and defense. Italy abandoned its reluctance to send its troops abroad and participated to a remarkable number of military interventions, including those in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In our opinion, shifts in both international and domestic politics are the crucial explanatory factors. The alternation between center-left and center-right cabinets is instead at the basis of a tension between multilateralism and bilateralism. While the center-left showed stronger commitment to integration in the European Union (EU), center-right cabinets privileged relationships with the United States and other key partners outside the continent. The 2011 debt crisis had major repercussions on Italian foreign policy. Budget cuts forced security policy to focus mainly on the strategic area of the Mediterranean. Furthermore, political parties followed public opinion in expressing growing discontent toward the EU institutions.

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Notes

One of the authors has been involved as “expert” in meetings and workshops aimed at preparing the draft of both the latest Ministero della Difesa (2015) and the reform (law n.125 2014) of the development cooperation.

See on this point Ignazi et al. (2012). The limited military operations undertaken during the Cold War (e.g., Lebanon) were exceptions that did not escape from the strict bipolar constraints. For a detailed analysis see Calossi et al. (2013).

On official documents see—among others—the above-mentioned “Nuovo Modello di Difesa” (1991), “Nuove Forze per un Nuovo Secolo” (2001); and “Libro Bianco” (2002, 2015).

Speech by the then President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, quoted in Coticchia and Moro (2015, p. 16).

As stated by the Ministero della Difesa (2002), the New Italian Defense Model should have been adapted specifically to address those new “multidimensional threats” to national security.

Alongside, other reforms were adopted (e.g., Law 25/1997 modified the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Carabinieri became the fourth service, etc.).

For a detailed analysis with the figure related to such (failed attempt) see: IV Commissione, “I temi dell’attività parlamentare nella XVII legislatura”, 2018.

For decades Italy did not have an established procedure, and thus the parliament played a marginal role in controlling the executive on missions abroad (as well as on other defense and security issues, like procurement. Such limited parliamentary oversight allowed a huge autonomy for the Italian governments, which did not incur in transaction and audience costs in front of a public opinion almost constantly against military operations abroad (Battistelli et al., 2012). Moreover, the narrative of the “peace missions” granted a superficial bipartisan support, avoiding political contestation (Ignazi et al., 2012; Coticchia and Catanzaro 2017).

It is worth noticing that a considerable percentage of that percentage was devoted to the expenses related to the (domestic) management of refugees. The post-2017 decrease of funds is related to the sharp reduction of expenses attaining at the management of migrants and refugees.

See Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, Documento di economia e finanza 2019. Programma di stabilità dell’Italia, 9 April 2019.

Authors’ elaboration on the basis on official reports of member states’ contribution to UN regular budget (1995–2019).

A group of states called “Uniting for Consensus” (UFC) successfully opposed the reform that aimed to expand the UN Security Council. Italy, which led the UFC, specifically contrasted the German aspiration of becoming a new permanent member of the Council.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy Fabrizio Coticchia
2. University of Milan, Milan, Italy Valerio Vignoli

1. Fabrizio Coticchia