Introduction ‘Atlanticism’ (i.e. loyalty to the Atlantic Alliance) and ‘Europeanism’ (i.e. support for the process of European integration) have represented the two major pillars of Italian foreign policy throughout the cold war period. During this period Italian governments were always formed by centrist and later, after 1963, centre-left coalitions. Since the end of the cold war, which in Italy coincided with the advent of the so-called ‘second republic’, Italian governments have been formed, more or less alternatively, by centre-left and centre-right coalitions. Each time a new coalition has come into power it has promised to embark on a new course in foreign policy, and, regularly, the new opposition has denounced such intent. These exchanges are common in political systems in which two parties or coalitions alternate in government even if they do not necessarily reflect substantial changes in foreign policy. In Italy, however, with each alternation, the notion has gained widespread acceptance among both academics and journalists that Italian foreign policy oscillates between Europeanism and Atlanticism. More precisely, centre-left governments are reputed to privilege the former while centre-right ones are supposed to favour the latter.1 These

analyses, however, have one limitation: probably because they analyse recent episodes in Italian foreign policy, they focus on very short periods of time, and rely primarily on the public pronouncements of politicians, they all privilege ‘differences’ over ‘similarities’.2 This chapter, instead, examines over half a century of Italian foreign policy and argues that neither the place of Atlanticism in Italian foreign policy nor its relationship with Europeanism have changed since the two policies were first developed in the late 1940s. The chapter begins by identifying the variables affecting continuity and change in foreign policy. It then sketches the main characteristics of the policy of Atlanticism as it was developed in the late 1940s, its relation to Europeanism, and its subsequent developments. Next, the chapter examines the more proactive security and defence policy Italy developed after the end of the cold war and argues that such activism did not affect the basic characteristics of Atlanticism and its relationship with Europeanism. The chapter ends with some predictions about the future of Atlanticism in Italian foreign policy.