Foreign posture in comparative perspective: a quantitative and qualitative appraisal of Italian foreign and defence policy during the Renzi Government

ABSTRACT

The performance of the Renzi government (2014–2016) in the realm of foreign and defence policy is a mixed bag. Struggling with significant structural constraints at home but called upon to shoulder increased responsibilities abroad, Italian foreign policy (IFP) has balanced instances of retrenchment, characterised by inward-looking tendencies and continued budget shortfalls, with its traditional emphasis on bandwagoning with stronger allies to retain a degree of influence over international events. Secondary only to Italy’s traditional focus on the European project and the broader North Atlantic Alliance, the Mediterranean pillar – including the fight against extremism and the search for new markets and economic opportunities – has dominated IFP under the Renzi government. While staying true to its traditional reluctance to ‘go it alone’, Italy has pushed hard in Europe to consolidate a common response to the migration crisis, while seeking to assume a leading role in efforts to support political reconciliation in Libya. Italy has also enhanced its participation in the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, but has to date refused repeated requests by the US and its allies to begin offensive military operations in Syria and Iraq. The article analyses Italian foreign and defence policy from a comparative perspective, employing a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach to assess the strengths and weaknesses of Italy’s foreign posture between 2014 and 2016.

KEYWORDS:

• Italy
• foreign policy
• defence
• government
• Matteo Renzi

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This number also includes Italy’s operation Mare Sicuro, launched in March 2015. In total, including military missions on Italian territory, Italy was participating in 31 military missions with about 14,400 personnel by the end of 2016 (Source: Italian Ministry of Defence).

2. It has to be noted that the last time a similar document was produced by Italy’s military top brass was in 1986, in itself an indication of the Renzi government’s willingness to redress Italian institutional shortcomings in this domain (Greco and Ronzitti 2016, 47–55).

3. Remarkably, Italy and Germany spend about the same percentage of GDP on defence (see Figure 2).

4. In the case of France and the United Kingdom, equipment costs include nuclear weapons.

5. Italian soldiers patrol the area north of Mosul, protecting the employees of the Trevi Group, the Italian company awarded the contract to repair Iraq’s largest dam – the fourth largest in the Middle East.

6. This was particularly evident in the areas of defence and economic policy. Both the Defence Minister, Roberta Pinotti, and the Minister for the Economy and Finance, Pier Carlo Padoan, retained their posts under the Gentiloni government.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrea Dessì

Andrea Dessì is a Researcher in the Mediterranean and Middle East programme of the Rome-based Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and PhD candidate in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). His research focuses on EU and US foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa with particular emphasis on the diplomatic and military history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. He has contributed to IAI’s yearbook on Italian Foreign Policy and has published articles and papers in a number of books and journals.

Francesco Olmastroni

Francesco Olmastroni is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences, University of Siena, and field and data manager for the Laboratory for Political and Social Analysis (LAPS), the Survey Research Centre of the University of Siena. His recent publications include: ‘The alleged consensus: Italian elites and publics on foreign policy’, Italian Political Science Review (forthcoming); ‘Public Opinion’ (with P. Isernia), in K.E. Jørgensen, E. Drieksens, A. K. Aarstad, K. Laatikainen and B. Tonra (eds.), The SAGE Handbook of European Foreign Policy, SAGE, 2015; Framing War: Public Opinion and Decision-Making in Comparative Perspective, New York and Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2014.