Strategic Culture and Italy's Military Behavior

Strategic Culture and Italy's Military Behavior PDF Author: Paolo Rosa
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498522823
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
Italy, although it considers itself to be a middle-sized power on par with France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, has been incapable of playing an international role comparable to theirs, instead keeping a low-profile foreign policy. This has not been due to any material constraints—Italy’s profile has remained consistently low, through economic times both good and bad—but rather to the country’s strategic culture, a mixture of realpolitik and pacifist tendencies. This book sets out to analyze the influence of Italy’s strategic culture on its foreign policy. It conducts an exploratory case-study to show if hypotheses generated by the strategic culture approach can shed some light on the puzzling Italian behavior in the international arena (puzzling because Italy shows a less assertive foreign policy vis-à-vis other middle powers in the same rank). The first chapter considers the main interpretations of Italian foreign policy and their limitations. The second and third chapters review the literature on strategic culture, stressing its utility for the Italian case. The fourth chapter describes the country’s strategic culture through the Liberal, Fascist, and Republican periods, and the fifth chapter analyzes the influence of ideational factors on Italy’s behavior abroad. Conclusions sum up the various emerging evidences. Scholars of political science, international relations, strategic studies, and comparative politics will find this work to be of interest.

Strategic Culture and Italy's Military Behavior

Strategic Culture and Italy's Military Behavior PDF Author: Paolo Rosa
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498522823
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 159

Get Book Here

Book Description
Italy, although it considers itself to be a middle-sized power on par with France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, has been incapable of playing an international role comparable to theirs, instead keeping a low-profile foreign policy. This has not been due to any material constraints—Italy’s profile has remained consistently low, through economic times both good and bad—but rather to the country’s strategic culture, a mixture of realpolitik and pacifist tendencies. This book sets out to analyze the influence of Italy’s strategic culture on its foreign policy. It conducts an exploratory case-study to show if hypotheses generated by the strategic culture approach can shed some light on the puzzling Italian behavior in the international arena (puzzling because Italy shows a less assertive foreign policy vis-à-vis other middle powers in the same rank). The first chapter considers the main interpretations of Italian foreign policy and their limitations. The second and third chapters review the literature on strategic culture, stressing its utility for the Italian case. The fourth chapter describes the country’s strategic culture through the Liberal, Fascist, and Republican periods, and the fifth chapter analyzes the influence of ideational factors on Italy’s behavior abroad. Conclusions sum up the various emerging evidences. Scholars of political science, international relations, strategic studies, and comparative politics will find this work to be of interest.

Italy and the Military

Italy and the Military PDF Author: Mattia Roveri
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030571610
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 395

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Book Description
This book sheds new light on the role of the military in Italian society and culture during war and peacetime by bringing together a whole host of contributors across the interdisciplinary spectrum of Italian Studies. Divided into five thematic units, this volume examines the continuous and multifaceted impact of the military on modern and contemporary Italy. The Italian context offers a particularly fertile ground for studying the cultural impact of the military because the institution was used not only for defensive/offensive purposes, but also to unify the country and to spread ideas of socio-cultural and technological development across its diverse population.

Cultures of Counterterrorism

Cultures of Counterterrorism PDF Author: Silvia D'Amato
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429878400
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
This book investigates counterterrorism responses from a strategic-culturalist perspective, focusing on France and Italy in the post-9/11 era. Terrorism occupies a predominant space within contemporary political debate across all European countries. Recent attacks in Europe have raised many questions about the status of counterterrorism structures within European countries, revealing a wide range of practical as well as discursive security implications. This work provides an original contribution to the understanding of counterterrorism by asking how values, norms, and a shared sense of identity matter in policy dynamics. It explores and assesses which cultural elements are relevant for the fight against terrorism and investigates the impact which these elements can have on practical approaches to terrorism. Despite the current attention to terrorist attacks in Europe, the cases of France and Italy in counterterrorism affairs are particularly overlooked by the existing literature; this book analyses, questions, and examines the strategy of these two countries through the instruments offered by the culturalist approaches to strategy. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism studies, discourse analysis, European politics, security studies, and international relations in general.

Italy in Uncertain Times

Italy in Uncertain Times PDF Author: Carla Monteleone
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498581846
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
This book analyzes how variations in the traditional pillars of Italian foreign policy (the US, the EU and multilateralism) can be related to changes in the US-led international hegemonic order and to the role that Italy plays within that order. To explore these variations, the book proposes an analysis of the Italian voting and sponsoring behavior at the UN in the period 2000-2017, in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, and emphasizes the importance of the latter forum to detect how Italian behavior reflects changes at the international system level. By focusing on the Italian coalition behavior, the book explores how Italy as a status seeking middle power has traditionally played the role of coalition facilitator, adapting its foreign policy to be part of a coalition of European states and building on this coalition to increase its contribution to the maintenance of the international system in support of the US-led order. Ultimately this behavior also contributed to its status. However, at a moment when traditional coalitions are reshuffling, and elements of uncertainty are present, elements of volatility are present in Italian foreign policy, especially in the choice of intra-European coalition partners. Italy still builds on a coalition of European states and still does so in support of the US and its authority in the international hegemonic order. But changes in the bargaining environment are making the facilitation of a coalition of European states more difficult and less rewarding. The book also highlights ongoing challenges at both the domestic and international level that might lead to more marked discontinuities in the traditional Italian foreign policy behavior

Romania's Strategic Culture 1990-2014

Romania's Strategic Culture 1990-2014 PDF Author: Iulia-Sabina Joja
Publisher: Ibidem Press
ISBN: 9783838212869
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
Romania's communist regime cultivated a thorny relationship with the Soviet Union, which facilitated the development of a national security narrative legitimizing a highly isolationist foreign policy. These factors have heavily weighed on Romanian postcommunist strategic thinking and complicated the transition process.

Military Cultures in Peace and Stability Operations

Military Cultures in Peace and Stability Operations PDF Author: Chiara Ruffa
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812250184
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
Chiara Ruffa argues that civil-military relations and societal beliefs about the use of force shape the military culture of an army in its home country and has an impact on soldiers' behavior overseas and their ability to keep the peace.

Duce: The Contradictions of Power

Duce: The Contradictions of Power PDF Author: Peter J. Williamson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019775466X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 479

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Book Description
Eighty years after the fall of Benito Mussolini, controversy remains about what his dictatorship represented. This reflects the different sides to the Duce's leadership: while adept at nurturing and enforcing his personal political power, Mussolini's lack of insight into the requirements of governance prevented him from converting this power into influence to achieve his goals. His efforts to maintain the support of Italy's conservative elites--economic, social and political--also created tensions with his radical Fascist ambitions, diminishing the momentum behind his regime. Mussolini is frequently portrayed as a charismatic leader, but his rule was secured principally by coercion, violence and a 'spoils system'. Nonetheless, his personality cult had significant popular appeal, even if based upon a political myth. This enabled him to consolidate his position and to dominate his Fascist colleagues--but at a price of over-centralized, dysfunctional decision-making. In this book, the first comprehensive English-language study of Mussolini in nearly two decades, Peter J. Williamson brings to life the contradictions within the Duce's leadership. Using a wide range of sources, Williamson reveals how these conflicts impeded the dictator's ambitions, leaving him increasingly frustrated, all while most Italians endured the severe privations of both failure and Fascism.

The Concept of Resistance in Italy

The Concept of Resistance in Italy PDF Author: Maria Laura Mosco
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1783489596
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
The Concept of Resistance in Italy brings together experts from different fields to reflect in a new, comprehensive critical approach, on an event that has shaped the young Italian nation from the onset of Fascism in the early 20s. Although grounded in the Italian context, its theoretical frameworks, provided by the variety of disciplines involved in the volume, will prove beneficial for any critical discourse on the concept of resistance nowadays. Moving from a reflection on the legacy of the Italian Resistance to Fascism and the Resistance Movement born in the latest years of WWII, when Italy witnessed the presence on its territory of foreign troops from opposite corners, and was involved in a Civil War at the very same time, this collection reassesses the concept of Resistance within the Italian 20th and 21st century cultural context, moving beyond historical perspectives. The multidisciplinary scope allows for an historical, philosophical and artistic exploration of the concrete actions that define resistance to Fascism, and the Resistance Movement during WWII, their representations in literature, cinema and music, and the more abstract philosophical concept of Resistance in a rapidly changing globalized world, with oppressive political orders, new global economic structures, and emerging new philosophical fields.

Strategic Cultures in Europe

Strategic Cultures in Europe PDF Author: Heiko Biehl
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3658011688
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
European countries work together in crisis management, conflict prevention and many other aspects of security and defence policy. Closer cooperation in this policy arena seems to be the only viable way forward to address contemporary security challenges. Yet, despite the repeated interaction, fundamental assumptions about security and defence remain remarkably distinct across European nations. This book offers a comparative analysis of the security and defence policies of all 27 EU member states and Turkey, drawing on the concept of ‘strategic culture’, in order to examine the chances and obstacles for closer security and defence cooperation across the continent. Along the lines of a consistent analytical framework, international experts provide case studies of the current security and defence policies in Europe as well as their historical and cultural roots. ​

Cultural Dimensions of Strategy and Policy

Cultural Dimensions of Strategy and Policy PDF Author: Jiyul Kim
Publisher: Strategic Studies Institute
ISBN: 1584873892
Category : Cultural awareness
Languages : en
Pages : 45

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Book Description
There has been a growing recognition in the post-Cold War era that culture has increasingly become a factor in determining the course of today's complex and interconnected world. The U.S. experience in Afghanistan and Iraq extended this trend to national security and military operations. There is also a growing recognition by the national security community that culture is an important factor at the policy and strategy levels. Cultural proficiency at the policy and strategy levels means the ability to consider history, values, ideology, politics, religion, and other cultural dimensions and assess their potential effect on policy and strategy. The Analytical Cultural Framework for Strategy and Policy (ACFSP) is one systematic and analytical approach to the vital task of viewing the world through many lenses. The ACFSP identifies basic cultural dimensions that seem to be of fundamental importance in determining such behavior and thus are of importance in policy and strategy formulation and outcomes. These dimensions are (1) Identity, or the basis for defining identity and its linkage to interests; (2) Political Culture, or the structure of power and decisionmaking; and (3) Resilience, or the capacity or ability to resist, adapt or succumb to external forces. Identity is the most important, because it ultimately determines purpose, values and interests that form the foundation for policy and strategy to attain or preserve those interests.