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91. In Search of Symmetry in the Eurozone

Author:
Paul De Grauwe
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
One of the major problems of the eurozone is the divergence of the competitive positions that have built up since the early 2000s. This divergence has led to major imbalances in the eurozone where the countries that have seen their competitive positions deteriorate (mainly the so - called ' PIIGS ' – Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain ) have accumulated large current account deficits and thus external indebtedness, matched by current account surpluses of the countries that have improved their competitive positions (mainly Germany).
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Regional Cooperation, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe, Greece, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Ireland

92. The Image of Crisis-Ridden Europe and the Division Between Creditor and Debtor Countries: The Case of Italy

Author:
Michele Comelli
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The eurozone's debt crisis has exposed structural economic and political rifts within the European Union. Specifically, it has created a new cleavage between creditor and debtor countries, the former being mainly located in Central-Northern Europe and the latter in Southern Europe, each with its own understanding of the causes of and remedies to the crisis. This paper explores how a debtor country - Italy - has changed its political discourse on the EU as a result of the crisis, focusing on political elites, civil society and public opinion. It argues that while the discourse of political elites and of civil society clearly mirrors this cleavage, public opinion does not necessarily follow this pattern, being mainly concerned with the country's domestic ills.
Topic:
Civil Society, Debt, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe and Italy

93. An Agenda for the European Council: Feasible steps to bring the eurozone back from the precipice

Author:
Stefano Micossi
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Once again the European Council will meet in an emergency session at the end of June, with the eurozone economy in recession and actually plummeting in its Southern periphery. Further doubts are also growing on the sustainability of sovereign debts due to the vicious spiral of deteriorating bank balance sheets, ballooning potential liabilities from banking rescues and widening spreads on government borrowings. The sovereign debt crisis in the periphery has now turned into a fully fledged banking crisis that threatens to spread from Greece to Spain and tomorrow, who knows, to Italy, France and even Germany itself.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Regional Cooperation, Financial Crisis, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe, Greece, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy

94. The Political Economy of Italy's Relations with China

Author:
Giovanni Andornino
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Sino-Italian bilateral relations are eminently economic in their focus, with trade and investments working as the main drivers of engagement. Two distinctive features have marked the economic interaction in recent years: a pattern of asymmetrical competition, and an asynchrony of opportunities in bilateral trade and investment flows. Between 2009 and 2011, however, Sino-Italian relations underwent important changes. Against the background of the global financial crisis, China might become a key source of foreign investments for Italy. In addition, China's efforts to promote domestic demand under the Twelfth Five-Year Plan might create unprecedented opportunities for Italian exports.
Topic:
Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
China and Italy

95. Can Italy and Spain survive rates of 6-7%?

Author:
Daniel Gros
Publication Date:
07-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The sentiment that the euro is now in real danger is based in large part on the widespread conviction that interest rates of 6-7% are simply unsustainable for both Italy and Spain., After taking a closer look at the fundamentals, however, Daniel Gros concludes in this new Policy Brief that both countries should be able to live with this level of interest rates for quite some time, but only if they mobilize domestic savings, which remain strong in both countries. For Spain, some debt/equity swaps are also needed.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and Italy

96. Outward FDI from Italy and its policy context

Author:
Marco Mutinelli and Lucia Piscitello
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Italian companies started to invest abroad in the 1960s in search of new markets. However, Italy's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared with that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the low number of large firms, the specialization in traditional low-and medium-technology manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced services. The global economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy. However, the positive trend of Italian OFDI was not interrupted, and in 2009 OFDI flows remained stable compared to 2008. Habitually silent on this policy area in earlier decades, the Italian Government has recently shown a more favorable stance toward OFDI, introducing specific policy measures addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises, which have started to expand strongly abroad – these now constitute almost 90% of Italian multinational enterprises (MNEs).
Topic:
Markets and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Europe and Italy

97. Shi'i Studies and the Islamic Republic of Iran: Claiming Islam Back to its Own History

Author:
Raffaele Mauriello
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Iranian Review of Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Center for Strategic Research (CSR)
Abstract:
Barack Obama's message to the Iranian people and government on the occasion of Nowruz 1388 (2009) and the appointment of Vali Nasr earlier the same year as Senior Advisor to the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan arguably marked a turning point in the US foreign policy vis-à- vis the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Shi'as at large; indicating an enhanced role for Shi'i Studies in shaping American foreign policy.. However, a number of European and American historians of Islam have endeavored for quite some time to inform both the Western governments and the general public that there is the necessity to distinguish between Islam as an “object” of study within the framework of the history of religions and Islam as a political phenomenon–and therefore as an object of study for the political scientist. The present article, drawing on the writer's understanding of some implications of a recent work of synthesis about the history of the academic historiography concerning Shi'i Islam by the Italian Shi'itologist/historian Biancamaria Scarcia Amoretti (November 2010), addresses the implications of the post-1979 re-interpretation of Shi'i history in political terms. It argues that in the crisis in the relations between the West and Muslim societies two alternative approaches are conceivable. Either it is assumed that Islam as a religion has little to do with the crisis and that this is the result of geo-politics, political interests, and economic competition among states (Graham 2010), or alternatively, that Islam is in fact the relevant issue at stake, in which case it calls for a serious, scholarly discussion of Islam, primarily as a religion, and hence, a matter of theology and history.
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Europe, and Italy

98. What is Totalitarian Art?

Author:
Kanan Makiya
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Igor Golomstock's encyclopedic tome on the art produced in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and communist China makes a good case that totalitarian art is a distinct cultural phenomenon. But a new postscript on art under Saddam Hussein is less compelling, writes a former Iraqi dissident.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
China, Iraq, Soviet Union, Germany, and Italy

99. CHALLENGING THE EAST-WEST DIVIDE: INSIGHTS FROM A COMPARISON OF UKRAINE AND ITALY

Author:
Nicole Gallina
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
This article examines how political behaviour has impeded the functioning of political institutions in Ukraine and Italy. It applies an actor-centered institutionalism and argues that even nondemocratic political elites can co-exist within a democratic framework. It analyzes actors' conduct in regard to the democratic institutions of the constitution, judiciary and media. The paper concludes by identifying three pillars of political elite power.
Political Geography:
Europe, Ukraine, and Italy

100. Striking a Balance Between Norms and Interests in Italian Foreign Policy: The Balkans and Libya

Author:
Valérie Vicky Miranda
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
To what extent is foreign policy driven by norms and/or by interests? Considering the main trends of Italian foreign policy after World War II and two case studies, the Balkans and Libya, this paper investigates the role played by norms and interests and the interconnection between the two in Italian foreign policy. In the Balkans, norms and interests have neatly dovetailed: supporting democratization and the rule of law has also meant furthering Italian security and economic interests in the region. By contrast, Libya was the theatre of an essentially interest-driven foreign policy. Nevertheless, the Italian government's response to the Libyan crisis between March and May 2011 has interestingly marked a rupture from the recent past.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Libya, Kosovo, Balkans, North Africa, and Italy