ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide a more comprehensive perspective on the process of transformation that occurred in post-Cold War Italian defense, advancing the following argument: bipolar legacies still influence the evolution of Italy’s defense, putting the sustainability of the entire military instrument at risk. Notwithstanding the significant changes that have shaped national security doctrines, structures, and even institutions, the Cold War legacies still matter, hindering a complete transformation because of Italian decision-makers’ inability to address them. In other words, Italian defense has run for the last 25 years without breaking the chains of the past. The constraints imposed by the Cold War hindered an autonomous Italian defense policy. Indeed, the deployment of troops abroad occurred on very few occasions, and the national armed forces were inadequately structured to undertake complex international military operations. Both the military operations abroad and the strategic documents illustrate the considerable evolution of the post-Cold War Italian defense policy.
