The Evolution of American Military Bases in Italy

The 2021 G20 and Italy: keeping our dreams alive?

Italy’s presidency of the G20 defied the odds and resulted in costly commitments by the members on a range of issues: global health, climate change, a minimum global tax, and the crisis in Afghanistan. How can we explain this success? Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, and his extensive prior experience and widespread respect was certainly a factor. The global context was also important, with the new Biden administration in the US leading a group of countries seeking multilateral solutions to pressing international problems.

Le relazioni transatlantiche e la governance globale

When the doctor gets sick: the Eurozone crisis and transatlantic relations

The United Nations and the European Union

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) are expressions of a rules-based global order. The EU has enshrined support to the UN in its security strategies, and its priorities indicate an engagement in a wide range of UN programs and activities to maintain the rules-based order and adapt it to face internal and external challenges. The EU and its member states are the largest contributors to the UN budget. Following the adoption of the Lisbon treaty, the EU has increased its representation at the UN, gaining enhanced observer status in the General Assembly. However, because of the intergovernmental nature of the forum, only its member states have the right to vote. This has led sch…

Transatlantic Governance and the Southern Caucasus

Sicurezza internazionale

Criminalità organizzata transnazionale e sicurezza internazionale. Le politiche di contrasto al crimine organizzato nella Nuova Agenda Transatlantica

La coalizione transatlantica nel Consiglio di Sicurezza delle Nazioni Unite

Multilateralism, Security and the Global Political System: The US and the EU at the UN

The article analyzes data on US and EU behavior at the UN and does not confirm the deep estrangement between the US and the UN nor the real possibility of a EU support to a multilateral order in opposition to the US that has been highlighted by some IR scholars. The article claims that the EU does not challenge the metanorms at the basis of the UN. On the contrary, the EU supports the current (US-based) constitutional order and tends to improve its output legitimacy in consideration of changes in the security agenda. In this respect, the US and the EU seem to complement each other operationally rather than represent opposite models of multilateralism expressing a diverging institutional pat…

L’Unione Europea tra prevenzione dei conflitti e intervento militare

Il mutamento di natura, caratteristiche e scopi dei conflitti armati contemporanei richiede nuovi strumenti di intervento che consentono all'Unione Europea di ricavarsi una nicchia d'intervento nel campo della gestione di crisi e conflitti e, in particolare, nella prevenzione dei conflitti e nei processi di ricostruzione post-bellica. Il capitolo analizza l'approccio a crisi e conflitti della UE e, in particolare, le sue operazioni di pace nel quadro dell'evoluzione degli approcci alla gestione dei conflitti e sostiene che l'approccio della UE si può inquadrare all'interno di un processo di istituzione di nuove norme riguardanti la prevenzione dei conflitti.

Qualcosa è cambiato?

Do terrorism, organized crime (drug production), and state weakness affect contemporary armed conflicts? An empirical analysis

ABSTRACTIn 2014, the UN Security Council emphasized the dangers of terrorism, criminal activity (especially drug production and trafficking), and state weakness in conflict areas. However, neither policy debates nor scholarly analyses have focussed on the potential impact of these elements on conflict dynamics and characteristics, and the investigated partial relationships have led to inconclusive results. This article explores the presence in armed conflicts of terrorist groups among fighting parties, major drug production (indicating the presence of activities typical of criminal organizations), and state failure in the period 1990–2011. Focussing on intrastate conflicts, this article hig…

Le relazioni transatlantiche e la sicurezza internazionale

Beyond material factors? Identity, culture and the foreign and security policy of the EU

The evolution of European integration in the field foreign, security and defence policy and the coordination practices established by EU member states cannot be fully explained by looking at material factors only. The chapter adds to the picture the importance of identity, and, in particular, the we-feeling typical of belonging to a security community and security culture in the evolution of the practices adopted for the international projection of the EU and its member states. In consideration of the importance that support to the UN has acquired since the 2003 ESS, both as a strategic priority and as a constitutive element of the EU identity, the chapter focuses on the coordination practi…

Some insights on the link between terrorism, organised crime and ‘new wars’

Purpose - The purpose of this chapter is to investigate on the relationship between terrorism, criminal organisations, and the so-called 'new wars'. Methodology/approach - Review of the existing literature on the 'new wars' and on the terrorism-crime nexus; estimate of the financial revenues gained by terrorist groups engaged in illicit activities. Findings -Terrorist and criminal groups can develop several forms of collaboration. Whether terrorists convert to criminal activities or not depends on a variety of factors, both internal and external. In some cases these links are occasional and opportunistic, associated with the possibility of exploiting the availability of specialised competen…

‘Mind the Gap: IR and the challenge of international politics'

The discipline of International Relations (IR) for a long time of its history has developed in the form of Great Debates that involved competing paradigms and schools. More recently, it has been described as a cacophony of voices unable to communicate among themselves, but also incapable to provide keys to understand an ever more complex reality. This collection aims at evaluating the heuristic value of a selection of traditional paradigms (realism and liberalism), schools (constructivism), and subdisciplines (security studies and international political economy) so as to assess the challenges before IR theory today and the ability of the discipline to provide tools to make the changed worl…

"Nuove guerre" e criminalità organizzata transnazionale: esempi dall'ex Jugoslavia

Le relazioni tra Stati Uniti e Nazioni Unite: bilancio e prospettive

La politica di sicurezza di una potenza civile: economia e prevenzione dei conflitti

Introduzione. Sicurezza e cambiamento

The end of the Euro-Atlantic pluralistic security community? the new agenda of transatlantic security relations in the global political system

The chapter analyses security relations between the US and the EU, as reflected in the new agenda of transatlantic security relations and in its outcomes. Differences in international actorness, in the strategic culture and in threat perception between the two international actors are analyzed. It is noted that, the emerging of security challenges not strictly of a military type, most often transnational in nature, creates an incentive for the two actors to cooperate. An empirical analysis of the answers given by the US-EU to international security crises in the period 1990-2000 is conducted to show that a US-EU cooperation nucleus, built on the long practice of the Atlantic cooperation, is…

Security and securitization: Copenhagen and beyond

Security is strictly linked to the possibility of adopting exceptional measures within the framework of decision-making processes transcending normal political processes. However, an exploration of the evolution of the security concept challenges the premises of its exceptionality, and brings attention to its contextual elements. The Copenhagen school has greatly contributed to this exploration and it has focused on securitization, that is the process through which security threats are identified and exceptional measures in response are legitimized. After having highlighted the evolution of the security concept, the article presents the securitization proposal of the Copenhagen school and p…

Impact and Perspectives of American Bases in Italy

Italy is expected to play a growing role in the American global strategy. The American military presence has recently provoked uneasiness in Italian society and growing protests, as a reflex of the weakening of the current global leader in terms of international legitimacy and political support. However, the acceptance of Italy''s role by governments of all shades is to be understood within the framework of the Euro-Atlantic pluralistic security community that still allows an improved environment in which it is easier to find co-operative solutions to problems as they arise, and to define common threats.

Evaluating the Evaluation. The pros and cons of ‘VQR’ in social and political research

Between science and economic development, and in the name of democratic control over themanagement of public resources, governments have progressively gained a role in mechanisms of knowledge production. In severalcountries, the United Kingdom, Australia, and France being the most well known cases, this has resulted in various evaluationexercises. All have generated wide debate within the scientific community on the most appropriate methods and criteria to be used

A randomized trial of intravitreal bevacizumab vs. ranibizumab for myopic CNV.

AIMS: The aim was to compare the efficacy of intravitreal therapy with bevacizumab and ranibizumab for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in pathologic myopia (PM). METHODS: This was a prospective multicenter randomized nonblinded trial. RESULTS: In seven centers, 78 eyes were randomized 1:1 to treatment with bevacizumab (group B, 40 eyes) or ranibizumab (group R, 38 eyes) given with an "on demand" regimen (PRN). The mean follow-up was 19 months (SD 2, range 12-24). The mean BCVA at baseline was 0.60 logMAR (20/80 Snellen equivalent, Seq) and 50 letter score (ls). Mean final BCVA was 0.51 LogMAR (20/63 Seq) and 57 ls (p = 0.0009 and p = 0.0002, respectively). In group B, mean basal BCVA was…

Spatial fragmentation of, and US support for, the main multilateral institutions of the western order

The growth of China-led minilateral initiatives mostly of a regional character has challenged the main multilateral institutions of the Western order and, ultimately, US authority. Faced with a progressive delegitimation of the institutional architecture that it promoted after World War II, the US, under the Obama administration, has acted to defend the existing main multilateral institutions of the order (UN, IMF, WB and WTO), attributing them with a strategic role. More than being radical, though, the reforms enacted have been incremental and pragmatic, but always imperfect. More importantly, they have not altered US influence, which is exercised mostly through informal means. This, howev…

Multilateralism in the Global Political System. The US and the EU at the UN

Sicurezza: una nuova agenda per un concetto in evoluzione

Angioid streak-related choroidal neovascularization treated by intravitreal ranibizumab.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to report the visual outcome of intravitreal therapy with ranibizumab of choroidal neovascularization secondary to angioid streaks after 1-year follow-up. METHODS Nine patients (age, 58 +/- 4 years; range, 53-65 years) were treated with off-label intravitreal injections of 0.3 mg ranibizumab. Primary outcomes were best-corrected visual acuity changes (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution and letters) and optical coherence tomography macular thickness changes. RESULTS Mean follow-up was 14 months (+/-2; range, 12-18 months). Mean visual acuity was 0.52 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution and 30 …

L'evoluzione della sicurezza nell'era globale: la sicurezza multilaterale e le operazioni di pace delle Nazioni Unite

La governance transatlantica ed il Caucaso meridionale

The evolution of the euro-atlantic pluralistic security community: Impact and perspectives of the presence of American bases in Italy

The article analyses changes in the American global defense posture and the Italian exception to the current trend. It is argued that the changes in Italy cannot be fully understood unless they are analyzed in light both of the changes in the global strategies of the current leader, and of the regional framework in which those strategies are applied. The article proposes an evolutionary interpretation of the development of the American basing network and places the new American basing strategy in Italy within the context of the Euro-Atlantic pluralistic security community, which significantly influences the application and perception of that strategy.

The enabling factor: the influence of US-EU cooperation on UN peace operations

The article analyzes the influence of US-EU cooperation on the UN decision-making process in the area of peace operations and its impact in the period 1991-2008. The article claims that US-EU cooperation transforms the positional power of the US, the EU and its member states into a coalition with dominant influence in the area of UN peace operations and becomes an enabling factor for the authorization of UN peace operations. The article analyzes the influence of US-EU cooperation on the UN decision-making process in the area of peace operations and its impact in the period 1991 - 2008. The article claims that US-EU cooperation transforms the positional power of the US, the EU and its member…

Italy in Uncertain Times: Europeanizing Foreign Policy in the Declining Proces of the American Hegemony

Il libro analizza l'influenza dei cambiamenti nell'ordine internazionale egemonico a guida americana sulle variazioni nei pilastri tradizionali della politica estera italiana (USA, UE e multilateralismo) ed il ruolo che l'Italia gioca all'interno di quell'ordine. Per esplorare queste variazioni, il libro propone un'analisi del comportamento di voto e di sponsorizzazione dell'Italia alle Nazioni Unite nel periodo 2000-2017, guardando sia all'Assemblea Generale sia al Consiglio di Sicurezza, ed enfatizza l'importanza di quest'ultima sede per individuare i riflessi dei cambiamenti nel sistema internazionale sul comportamento italiano. Concentrandosi sul comportamento coalizionale, il libro esp…

USA-UE: Una relazione speciale [in Cinese]

L'Unione Europea nel sistema politico globale [in Cinese]

This book assumes that the EU is a political system with a complex of institutions, rules and policies. The EU as a political system exerts functions as any other political system, by distributig its functions among actors working at different political layers as in a multi-layered political sytem (Part 1). The book focuses in particular upon the EU foreign and defence policy (Part 2), EU relations with third countries, grouped into world regions (Par 3), EU-UN relations and the management of global problems (Part 4).

Is Ranibizumab effective in stopping the loss of vision for Choroidal Neovascularization in Pathologic Myopia? A Long Term Follow-up Study

Aim To assess the efficacy and safety of ranibizumab in the treatment of choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) caused by pathologic myopia (PM). Design Prospective, multicentre, interventional case series. Methods 40 eyes of 39 consecutive patients with PM and CNV were treated with ‘on demand’ intravitreal injection of ranibizumab 0.5 mg. Final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and its change from baseline were the main outcome measures. Changes in optical coherence tomography (OCT) central retinal thickness (CRT) were a secondary outcome. Results Mean age was 53±13 years and mean refractive error –13.5±6.5 D. Median follow-up was 13.3±2 (range 12–18) months. Fifteen eyes (37.5%) had previou…

Crisi e ordine globale. Verso il declino dell'ordine multilaterale occidentale?

The US-EU Security Relationship: The Tensions Between a European and a Global Agenda

The US-EU security relationship: the tensions between a European and a global agenda, by Wyn Rees, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, 224 pp., £35.95 (paperback), ISBN 9780230221857 Overshadowed by ...

The new transatlantic agenda: transatlantic security relations between post-hegemonic cooperation and interdependence

The New Transatlantic Agenda: Transatlantic Security Relations Between Post-Hegemonic Cooperation and Interdependence

Coalition building in the UN Security Council

Political coalitions in the international system are still understudied in International Relations theory. This article claims that the formation of and variations in coalitions in the international system are affected by changes in their bargaining power and bargaining environment related to the global leadership cycle and by long-term organisational changes of the international political system. Identifying the Security Council as the institution in which states are more likely to keep their systemic preferences at the institutional level, the article studies the presence, formation and change of coalitions in the international system by testing variations in the behaviour of the Securit…

Security and Conflict Management: A Global Perspective

L’evoluzione del concetto e delle pratiche di sicurezza

De-Europeanizing at the UN? The Impact of the International Economic Crisis on Italian Foreign Policy

Among the mechanisms identified in the literature on the Europeanization of Italian foreign policy, the idea of belonging to a group or "we-feeling" plays an important role. By shaking the idea of European solidarity, the international economic crisis has promoted greater Euroscepticism in Italy, suggesting that the previously recorded Europeanization of Italian foreign policy could eventually also be affected. The article explores whether and how much Italian foreign policy has been de-Europeanized by comparing Italian behavior at the UN before and after the crisis. This arena has the advantage of allowing an analysis of behavior on the most important foreign policy issues, but it is also …

Foreign policy and de-Europeanization under the M5S–League government: exploring the Italian behavior in the UN General Assembly

This article explores the first declaredly populist and Eurosceptical Italian government’s role as a potential driver of de-Europeanization dynamics in Italian foreign policy. After describing the M5S–League government’s discursive de-Europeanization on core substantive EU values, the article focuses on multilateralism, a critical pillar of Italian foreign policy and a substantive norm of the European Union, and investigates the actual foreign policy conduct in the UN General Assembly. By analyzing the voting and sponsoring behavior of the M5S-League government, the article systematically assesses variations in de-Europeanization’s critical dimensions (culture of cooperation, repudiation of…

Il multilateralismo nell'organizzazione del sistema politico globale

Il sempre più frequente ricorso a trattati multilaterali e la crescita esponenziale del numero di organizzazioni internazionali sono fenomeni relativamente recenti nella vita degli stati, ma sono allo stesso tempo tra le pratiche che più strutturano la società internazionale moderna. La comparsa del multilateralismo diventa visibile a partire dal XIX secolo, ma è soltanto dopo la fine della seconda guerra mondiale che le pratiche multilaterali si affermano nettamente, fino a diventare pratiche d’elezione – le più legittimanti – nelle relazioni tra gli stati, persino nel campo della sicurezza, dietro la spinta degli Stati Uniti. Negli ultimi decenni il multilateralismo si è evoluto dietro la…

Le relazioni tra Stati Uniti e ONU

Multilateral Security and the Transatlantic Coalition at the UN Security Council

Liberal Institutionalism

The application of liberal institutionalism to peacekeeping has shed light on several important questions regarding why member states support the deployment of a specific operation, how they build support for their position, whether domestic preferences influence their strategies in the Security Council and why they volunteer troops for peacekeeping. Sponsorship records have proven to be a useful sourse for researching coalition-building on peacekeeping.