Italy in the International System from Détente to the End of the Cold War

Antonio Varsori is Professor of History of International Relations at the University of Padova, Italy. He is also member of the Commission for the Publication of Italian Diplomatic Documents at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His most recent publications are L’Italia e la fine della guerra fredda. La politica estera dei governi Andreotti (1989-1992) (2013) and Storia internazionale. Dal 1919 a oggi (2015).Benedetto Zaccaria is a Research Assistant at the Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre of the European University Institute, Florence, Italy. He is the author of The EEC’s Yugoslav Policy in Cold War Europe, 1968–1980 (2016).

“The book in fact offers a number of genuinely innovative contributions, covering several political, economic, and sociocultural aspects of Italy’s foreign policy history. … the essays of the volume are all explicative, exhaustive, and engaging. … The book has the merit to offer a variety of perspectives and combine different approaches. It fulfills its mission to contribute to Italy’s diplomatic history and will represent an advantageous starting point for scholars who are interested in the history of Italy’s foreign relations.” (Dario Fazzi, H-Net Reviews, h-net.org, October, 2022)

• 1. Introduction; Antonio Varsori.- Part I The Political and Diplomatic Dimensions of Italy’s Foreign Policy.- 2. The United States, Italy and the Cold War: Interpreting and Periodising a Contradictory and Complicated Relationship; Mario Del Pero and Federico Romero.- 3. Cold War Republic: The ‘external constraint’ in Italy during the 1970s; Silvio Pons.- 4. Under a Multinational Mantle: Italy’s Participation in the G7 (1975-76); Marinella Neri Gualdesi.- 5. Italy’s Foreign Policy in the 1980s: from Enthusiasm to Disillusion; Antonio Varsori.- Part II       Foreign Policy Goals and Economic Ambitions.- 6. Mercantilism and Class Struggle: The Italian Economy in the International Context from 1960 to 1990; Francesco Petrini.- 7. From Interdependence to Unilateralism: Italy and the Evolution of Foreign Monetary Cooperation (1958-1973); Daniele Caviglia.- 8. Reshaping Transatlantic Energy Relations: Italy, the United States, and Arab Producers during the 1970s; Elisabetta Bini.- Part III New Approaches to the International System and the Influence of Parties’ Political Cultures.-  9. The Emergence of Global Environmentalism: A Challenge for Italian Foreign Policy?; Sara Lorenzini.- 10. Air, Space and Techno-science Innovation in Italian Foreign Policy during the 1970s and the 1980s; David Burigana.- 11. Decay and Catharsis: Perceptions of the United States in Italian Political Cultures Between the 1960s and 1970s; Valentine Lomellini and Benedetto Zaccaria.- 12. Development Cooperation, 1958-1992: Party Politics and a Foreign Policy Débâcle; Elena Calandri.