Italy's Foreign Policy and Concerns

Italy's foreign policy in recent months has consisted of a set of seemingly contradictory positions regarding her involvement in geopolitical affairs. On the one hand, Italy seems to be skeptical regarding the European Union and the euro (The Economist 1 46). On the other, Italy's government under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has publicly offered support to the United States in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack and, more recently, to the United Nations vis-a-vis the Middle East crisis (Xinhua News Agency 1 1). It will be argued in this brief essay that Under Berlusconi, Italy's foreign policy and her concerns represent a diffuse set of initiatives that make it difficult at best to generalize the country's overarching posture.

The position of Italy regarding the Middle East is an excellent example of this theory. In Spring 2000, under Italy's previous government, the country expressed its willingness to participate in a multinational United nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon following the anticipated Israeli withdrawal in July of that year (United Press International 1). As of May, 2002, Italy was being hailed by Israel as a good place for a Middle East peace conference focused on reviving the negotiating process between Israel and Palestine (Xinhua News Agency 2 1). The rapport between Italy and Israel seemed to be strong.

However, Xinhua News Agency (1 1) reported that as of March 2002, Berlusconi ex

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Category: Foreign - I