Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T01:24:52.783Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Italy seen through British eyes: a European middle power?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2016

Nicola Chelotti
Nicola Chelotti*
Affiliation:
Centre for International Studies, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
*
∗ Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article analyses the British perceptions of contemporary Italy and Italian politics. Through the use of a number of sources (parliamentary debates, governmental documents, newspaper articles and interviews) it argues that Italy is not perceived, within Great Britain, as a great power within the European system nor it is viewed as a peripheral actor. Rather, it suggests that Italy seems to have finally found in the post-Cold War scenario its proper role–a European middle power, with important responsibilities within a regional sub-system. A frequent request–and expectation–coming from British politics and society is that Italy should take on more international responsibilities, even in the sphere of defence–as the different readings of Italy's role and leadership in Afghanistan and Lebanon reveal. However, Italy's ability to play this role is believed to be hampered by several factors: its uncertain political situation, its unwillingness to engage in military operations, its reluctance to respect international commitments and its structural economic problems. As a result, further possibilities of cooperation with other international partners as well as its potential for autonomous action on the international stage are, in several cases, precluded. Moreover, if the relations between Italy and the UK are usually seen in a positive way, and Italy is viewed as a reliable partner, the nature of the cooperation between the two countries is often considered to be fragile and based on short-term common interests and strategies.

Keywords

foreign policymiddle powermilitary missions abroadBerlusconi
Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , August 2010 , pp. 307 - 322
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

Andretta, M., and Chelotti, N.. 2010 (forthcoming). Il G8 in Italia tra politica e protesta: Un caso di successo? In Politica in Italia. Edizione 2010, ed. Giuliani, M. and Jones, E., Bologna: Il Mulino.Google Scholar
Belloni, R., and Morozzo della Rocca, R.. 2008. Italy and the Balkans: The rise of a reluctant middle power. Modern Italy 13, no. 2: 169–85.Google Scholar
Chapnik, A. 1999. The middle power. Canadian Foreign Policy 7, no. 2: 73–82.Google Scholar
Chapnik, A. 2000. The Canadian middle power myth. International Journal 55, no. 2: 188–206.Google Scholar
Cooper, A. 1997. Niche diplomacy: A conceptual overview. In Niche diplomacy: Middle powers after the Cold War, ed. Cooper, A., 1–24. Houndmills: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coralluzzo, V. 2008. Italy and the Mediterranean: Relations with the Maghreb countries. Modern Italy 13, no. 2: 115–33.Google Scholar
Dinan, D. 2005. Ever closer union? An introduction to European integration. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Foradori, P., and Rosa, P.. 2007. Italy and defence and security policy. In Italy in the European Union: Redefining national interest in a compound polity, ed. Fabbrini, S. and Piattoni, S., 173–90. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office). 2003–2004. Departmental Report. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/publications-and-documents/publications1/annual-reports/departmental-report/archive/.Google Scholar
FCO. 2004–2005. Departmental report. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/publications-and-documents/publications1/annual-reports/departmental-report/archive/.Google Scholar
FCO. 2005–2006. Departmental report. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/publications-and-documents/publications1/annual-reports/departmental-report/archive/.Google Scholar
FCO. 2008–2009. Departmental report. http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/publications-and-documents/publications1/annual-reports/departmental-report/archive/.Google Scholar
Gegout, C. 2002. The Quint: Acknowledging the existence of a Big Four–US directoire at the heart of the European Union's foreign policy decision-making process. Journal of Common Market Studies 40, no. 2: 331–44.Google Scholar
Hill, C. 2004. Renationalizing or regrouping? EU foreign policy since 11 September 2001. Journal of Common Market Studies 42, no. 1: 143–63.Google Scholar
Hill, C. 2006. The European powers in the security council: Differing interests, differing arenas. In Intersecting multilateralisms: The European Union at the United Nations, ed. Laatikainen, K.V. and Smith, K.E., 49–70. Houndmills: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Hansard, House of Commons and House of Lords. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/pahansard.htm Google Scholar
Kampfner, J. 2003. Blair's wars. London: Free Press.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, C.M., and Whitman, R.G.. 2007. European policy under Gordon Brown: Perspectives on a future prime minister. International Affairs 83, no. 2: 253–72.Google Scholar
Patten, C. 2005. Not quite the diplomat: Home truths about world affairs. London: Allen Lane.Google Scholar
Smith, J. 2005. A missed opportunity? New Labour's European policy 1997–2005. International Affairs 81, no. 4: 703–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, D.C. 2009. Rejecting the US challenge to the International Criminal Court: Normative entrapment and compromise in EU policymaking. International Politics 46, no. 4: 376–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UK Cabinet Office. 2008. The National Security Strategy of the United Kingdom. Security in an interdependent world. http://interactive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/documents/security/national_security_strategy.pdf Google Scholar
Villari, L. 1956. Italian foreign policy under Mussolini. New York: Devin-Adair.Google Scholar