Italy’s Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century

Edited by Bertjan Verbeek and Giampiero Giacomello

Italy's Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century: The New Assertiveness of an Aspiring Middle Power, edited by Giampiero Giacomello and Bertjan Verbeek, shows how changes in Italy's international and domestic environment since the early 1990s have affected Italy's foreign policy and raised its aspiration to become, and be treated as, a middle power. The contributors theoretically engage with both rationalist and constructivist accounts of middle power behavior. They reveal that the end of the Cold War, the advent of globalization, and the increase in institutionalized regional cooperation have increased Italy's freedom to maneuver (by reducing its dependence on the United States) while simultaneously causing Italy's policy freedom to decrease as a result of delegation of policy competencies to the EU and the need for cooperation in a globalized world.Domestic changes, notably the transition from the First to the Second Republic and the transformation of political leadership in Italy under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, have altered the specific way domestic politics is played out in foreign policy. Rather than adopting the more common focus on Italy's bilateral relations with other counties or regions, Italy's Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century centers on actors, issues, and policy instruments in vital areas of Italy's foreign. In addition, it discusses the search for Italy's position in global affairs and emphasizes the importance of leadership styles, domestic political agendas, and party rhetoric in determining Italy's foreign policy. As Giacomello and Verbeek's volume demonstrates, being consistent with such strategic prescription has always been a problematic undertaking for various Italian governments.

AcknowledgmentsDedicationAbbreviationsFigures and TablesIntroductionPart I: Changes in Italy's Domestic and International EnvironmentChapter One - "It's the Perception, Stupid!": The Hard Life of Italy as a Middle Powerby Giampiero Giacomello and Bertjan VerbeekChapter Two - Intra-Alliance Politics: Italian-American Relations, 1946-2010by R. Craig NationChapter Three - In Search of the North Star: Italy's Post-Cold War European Policyby Raffaello MatarazzoChapter Four - Italy's Foreign Policy Bureaucracy: An Overlooked Factor? by Nicola Chelotti and Eugenio PizzimentiChapter Five - Con Stile: Personality and Leadership Styles in Italy's Foreign Policyby Federica Ferrari and Alessandro PejranoPart II: Italy's Foreign Policy in an Era of New SecurityChapter Six - Atomic Ambivalence: Italy's Evolving Attitude towards Nuclear Weaponsby Matthew EvangelistaChapter Seven - All Together Now: Peace Support Operations as a "Bipartisan" Instrument of Italian Foreign Policyby Fabrizio Coticchia and Giampiero GiacomelloChapter Eight - Italy at War: Explaining the Italian Contribution to the Kosovo War (1999)by Jason W. DavidsonChapter Nine - Securing Italy's Energy Supply and Private Oil Companiesby Fabrizio Coticchia, Giampiero Giacomello, and Nicolò SartoriChapter Ten - The Role of Italy's Strategic Industries in Its Foreign Policyby Jean-Pierre DarnisConclusions: Punching Above Its Weight?by Giampiero Giacomello and Bertjan VerbeekList of ContributorsIndex