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2881. Continuity and change in Italy's foreign policy under the Prodi government. The cases of Iraq and Afghanistan

Author:
J.C. Mahncke
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
“I see that under the Prodi government Italy already now has and even more in future will be able to have a big role in Europe, and that as a result of this role will be able to take on an important function in relation to the United States and the Arab world […] I believe that in the course of one month Italy has succeeded to launch a strategic rearrangement of its foreign policy.”1 These are the words of Massimo D'Alema, Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs since May 2006. Indeed, the measures taken by the new Italian government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi indicate, if not a completely new orientation, a revised concept behind Italian foreign policy in contrast to that of his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi. Most striking is the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq, to be completed by autumn of this year. But Prodi wants to maintain Italian involvement in Afghanistan, and the government seems eager to uphold the traditionally good relations with the United States, despite the withdrawal from Iraq. While Prodi and D'Alema are in favour of a more important role of Italy in Europe and of the European Union in the world, close ties are to be kept with the United States. According to D'Alema: “The foreign policy of the government intends to favour the growth of an autonomous European actor but tied to the United States by solid and mature understanding within the alliance.”
Topic:
International Relations and Security
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, Asia, and Italy

2882. Fifteen Proposal for Italy's European Policy

Author:
T. Padoa-Schioppa and E. Greco
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Despite the important achievements of the past years (the Euro, enlargement, the drafting of the Constitutional Treaty, interventions in the Balkans and the growing diplomatic role in the Middle East), Europe is at a standstill and experiencing scepticism which, combined with prolonged economic stagnation, could deteriorate into a serious crisis. In this difficult situation, Italy could suffer particularly negative consequences. At the same time, however, it could - as in the past - play a prominent role in providing the Union with new dynamism.
Topic:
Security and International Organization
Political Geography:
Europe and Middle East

2883. Sécurité et stabilité dans le Sahel africain

Author:
Medi Taje
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
«Rivage aride d'une mer abandonnée», ainsi que l'évoque Jean Gallais (1984) , le Sahel africain, terme d'origine arabe, désigne traditionnellement le rivage ou la bordure méridionale du désert. Géographiquement, le Sahel africain, s'étendant de l'Océan Atla ntique à la mer Rouge fait la transition entre le Sahara, plus grand dés ert du monde où il est impossible de cultiver, et la savane où, à la f aveur d'une pluviométrie suffisante, l'homme est en mesure de développer un e agriculture, même rudimentaire. Les risques climatiques, source s de sécheresse et d'une insécurité alimentaire chronique, caractéri sent ce champ aux limites floues et mouvantes.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Development
Political Geography:
Africa

2884. Le Maghreb stratégique

Author:
Fouad Ammor, Mohamed Ould Haless, Ferdaous Ben Sassi, Mehid Taje, and Laurence Ammour
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
La première partie de nos travaux consacrés au Maghreb Stratégique, pour lesquels nous avions donné la parole en juin 2005 à deux Algériens, un Tunisien et un Français, avait mis en éviden ce les trois points suivants: la valeur stratégique du Maghreb n'est pas la somme de chacun des pays qui le composent, chaque Etat ayant ses prop res atouts, ses intérêts et ses contraintes; la sécurité de l'ensem ble maghrébin reste tributaire de transformations internes politiques, économ iques et sociales tout autant nécessaires que difficiles à mettre en œuv re; les cadres de coopération régionale et internationale tardent à tro uver une forme efficace.
Topic:
Security and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Middle East and Arabia

2885. Integrative Processes in the South Caucasus and their Security Implications

Author:
Leila Alieva
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
The issue of threats and risks, and policy responses to them, acquired a profound importance after 2001. The post-Soviet developments in the South Caucasus is an interesting case study, reflecting problems and contradictions in the relations between the West and the East, developed democracies and states in transition, Christians and Muslims. It also contributes to the current debates about: asymmetric threats and ways of addressing them, relations between democracy and security, which effect integration processes may have had on the security challenges of the century.
Topic:
Security, NATO, and Democratization
Political Geography:
Middle East and Soviet Union

2886. Promoting Sustainable Security

Author:
Jean Dufourcq(ed.) and Laure Borgomano-Loup (ed)
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
NATO Defense College
Abstract:
War has vanished; it seems to have disappeared from the mental landscape of the Western world. War, that is, as it was understood in the 19th and 20th centuries, as conflict between nation-states and organized societies for the defence or conquest of territory and wealth, the establishment of empires or the imposition of ideologies by force. When the Second World War ended, the Western victors attempted to outlaw war by means of collective regulators and the restrictive provisions of the San Francisco Charter concerning individual and collective legitimate defence. And then these very peoples, armed to the teeth for the cold war, developed the art of strategy and sophisticated weapons of destruction to such a point that, unwittingly, it seems, they domesticated war. The huge-scale disasters that the destructive power of the atom was now able to inflict made war unthinkable. Thus the cold war ended in a strategic stalemate, without a shot being fired. War quietly fell into discredit, as Western states, conditioned by centuries of national wars, border fighting and national defensive postures against neighbouring countries, slowly began to shift the focus to collective security to protect common interests, and policies on disarmament and prevention of proliferation in whatever form it took. In doing so, they exposed themselves to a potential new hazard: the danger that war might return, via other routes, to the heart of the Western world.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Development, and Peace Studies

2887. Development and Security in the Pacific Island Region

Author:
M. Anne Brown
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Pacific Island states face serious challenges and dilemmas, as a series of crises in the region indicate. Across the region, countries struggle with significant problems of state capacity, including poor leadership, poor governance and weak links between state institutions and community life and values.
Topic:
Security, Development, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Australia/Pacific

2888. Fuelling the Niger Delta Crisi

Author:
James Cockayne (ed.)
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Commercial security is increasingly present in humanitarian and post-conflict settings. The UN has even considered using commercial security to solve peacekeeping shortfalls. Yet using commercial security in these settings raises difficult ethical, operational and strategic questions. This exploratory study begins to describe the decentralized, ad hoc use of commercial security in these settings, in an attempt to provoke the further research and discussion needed before these questions can be adequately answered.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Humanitarian Aid, and Peace Studies

2889. Pyrrhus on the Potomac: How America's post-9/11 wars have undermined US national security

Author:
Carl Conetta
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project on Defense Alternatives
Abstract:
America's unique position of power in the post-Cold War era has often inspired comparisons to that of Rome during the rule of Augustus. But the security policy adopted by the United States, especially since the 9/11 attacks, calls to mind a different ancient place and personage: Pyrrhus (318 - 272 B.C.E.), king of Epirus, a Hellenistic realm that comprised what is now northwestern Greece and southern Albania. Plutarch memorializes Pyrrhus as a “great man of war” – but also a fool. Although he waged successful campaigns against Macedonia, the Romans, and others, Pyrrhus was unable to preserve his gains, which came at great cost. In the end, his martial ambitions won him and his kingdom nothing but ruin and disapprobation. He is remembered today in the phrase “Pyrrhic victory”– meaning any victory not worth its cost.
Topic:
Security, Cold War, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, America, Greece, Albania, and Rome

2890. Losing Hearts and Minds: World public opinion and post-9/11 US security policy

Author:
Carl Conetta
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Project on Defense Alternatives
Abstract:
The sympathy and support for the United States that surged worldwide in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks began to ebb as soon as US bombs began falling on Afghanistan. Supportive sentiments continued to recede through 2004, driven increasingly by the Iraq war and eventually settling at levels unseen since the early 1980s. The trend has temporarily reversed in some places at some times, either in response to hopeful news from Iraq (such as the December 2004 elections) or in reaction to local events (the November 2005 terrorist bombing in Jordan). Also, there are national exceptions to the trend (Israel) and partial exceptions (India). On balance, however, the United States today finds world opinion substantially at odds with its foreign policy and its leadership on most particulars.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Israel, and Jordan