ABSTRACT
Italy's special interest in the Danubian and Balkan region of central and southeastern Europe is a logical outgrowth of history and geography. This chapter discusses the terms are used to refer to a consciousness of distinctiveness based upon shared cultural identity. Cultural differences, for Stephen Ryan, "can arise from a number of factors, but the most important seem to be language, religion, historical experience, geographical isolation, race and kinship." In 1992 the Hexagonale was rechristened as the Central European Initiative, and its membership swelled to include Bulgaria, Romania, and newly independent Croatia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belarus, and Ukraine. With the imposed political constraints of the cold war period swept away, ethnicity and integral nationalism appeared to emerge as the single greatest challenge to hopes for expanded regional coordination and rapprochement with Europe. The most important pillars of Italy's postwar foreign policy were the European Community and NATO.
