ABSTRACT
The Italian Parliament is competent to debate a “state of war” and to give the government the necessary powers; it also ratifies by law all major international treaties. Debate concerning the limits and contents of the presidential command of the armed forces became a classic “Doktorfrage” of Italian studies of constitutional law, but it has not resulted in any significant changes in common political practices. From a political point of view, the 1962–1966 period of reform decreased the influence of the military compared with the civilian component of the Central Organization of Defense, as well as that of the army by comparison with the other two services. Conflicts between the ministers of defense and the military authorities have been the exception in the history of the Italian Republic. The reform of the Ministry of Defense and its staffs was deferred, awaiting the decisions concerning the proposed European Defense Community, whose formation had implied a complete reorganization.
