Italian Military Operations Abroad

Antigone nel XXI secolo

“…Benché a partire dagli anni Novanta l'Italia sia stata via via più impegnata in operazioni militari internazionali 13 , due eredità storiche contribuiscono a rendere problematica la celebrazione di "eroi di guerra": la prima consiste nel carattere altamente divisivo assunto dal culto dei caduti all'indomani della seconda guerra mondiale (con una compresenza di caduti militari e partigiani nonché di "martiri" fascisti che reclamavano ciascuno degna commemorazione) 14 ; la seconda rimanda a quella cultura pacifista che, nel dopoguerra, è stata intesa come forma di espiazione della vergogna del fascismo (e che, ad esempio, relegava nell'oblio i primi caduti in un'operazione internazionale, i 13 militari trucidati in Congo nel Una retorica di destoricizzazione della morte, di enfasi sulla sua ineluttabilità e impersonalità (si muore e si piange), coesiste con la concretezza e la singolarità del lutto (quella specifica morte e quel determinato pianto) 19 .…”

Soldiers drawn into politics? The influence of tactics in civil–military relations

“…For instance, the Italian army has capitalized on humanitarian and reconstruction tasks to increase its bargaining power and being perceived as a legitimate institution domestically (after the profound distrust of the military after the betrayal during the Fascist era). 29 By contrast in the past ten years, the British military has prioritized combat tasks and a warrior ethos. 30 This poses the fundamental question: what are the core tasks of the military, whether it is war-fighting or peacekeeping?…”

Patterns of isolationism: a quantitative assessment of Italy’s defence and foreign policy from government alternation to ‘grand coalitions’

“…Italy had to rethink its approach to international affairs in the midst of a profound transformation of the domestic political system. As illustrated by previous studies, governments responded to domestic and international uncertainty by reinforcing the country's position within major international institutions (Croci and Valigi 2013) and actively participating in a growing number of military operations (Ignazi, Giacomello, and Coticchia 2012). In the 1990s, Italy participated in 52 missions abroad, almost tripling the number of missions it had been involved in since the 1950s (N = 19).…”

“…In a period of global economic uncertainty, even more powerful countries may show a tendency to focus on the domestic arena and limit foreign policy commitments to the most relevant areas (see Colombo and Greco 2013). However, the propensity towards isolationism in world affairs not only contradicts Italy's multilateral vocation and its recent status of 'security producer' (Foradori and Rosa 2007;Davidson 2011;Ignazi, Giacomello, and Coticchia 2012;Croci and Valigi 2013) but it also reduces its capacity to respond to new global challenges. Indeed, the complexity of an increasingly interconnected world facing transnational threats requires enhanced cooperation and coherence with other international partners.…”

“…A substantial body of research has focused on the elements of continuity and change of IFP. Drawing on neo-realist and constructivist approaches to international relations, a vast majority of scholars (with only a few exceptions, e.g., Brighi 2007;Quaglia 2007) argue for a certain stability in foreign policy (Attinà 1991;Ignazi, Giacomello, and Coticchia 2012), demonstrated by the persistent commitment of both ruling and opposition parties to the three pillars (or circles) of IFP: the Atlantic Alliance, the European integration process and the Mediterranean partnership (e.g., Zannoni 1997). Since the World War II, Italy's foreign policy has been conceived, within these interdependent pillars (Andreatta and Hill 1997;Carbone 2007), as defensive and low-profile multilateralism.…”