History of Italian Foreign Policy

The aim of the course is for students to learn the peculiarities and characteristics of the foreign policy of the unified Italian state from 1861 until the beginning of the 21st century. This will involve studying the alliance systems preferred by the united Italy, from the Triple Alliance, through twenty years of Fascism and finally to the duopoly that has characterised post-war Italian foreign policy: Europeanism and Atlanticism.
The course will also touch on established preconceptions about Italian foreign policy from a historiographical perspective, including the relationship between foreign and domestic policy over the decades and issues of weakness and unreliability, which are commonly held to be causes of the frequent changing of Italian foreign policy positions.
The ultimate goal of the course is to provide students with the tools to understand the peculiarities of the Italian unitary state, as a regional actor that projects itself as a member of international organisations and founder of the European Union.

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to identify the main junctures in the development of Italian foreign policy and to fully understand the ambiguities of the main mass parties towards Italy's positioning post-World War II. Students will also draw parallels between the economic, social and political evolution of Italian society and the maturation of the country's established foreign policy positions, such as competitive Europeanism and critical Atlanticism.