ABSTRACT
National security cultures are key determinants in shaping a country’s strategic preferences. In this chapter we will consider how Italy’s security policy and behaviour in the international arena are influenced by the specific ideational and cognitive characteristics rooted in its security culture. In particular, we will consider: 1) how national security culture accounts for the securitization of threats and the preferred instruments relied upon to meet them; and 2) how security culture produces preferences for specific forms of security governance systems that, in turn, facilitate or inhibit international cooperation.
