Abstract
The fifth chapter studies Italian strategic culture and decisions to participate in all four of the operations examined in the book. The analysis shows that for Italy it has been important that international military operations are multilateral, preferably with a UN mandate, and that they promote a peacekeeping narrative. In all operations studied, Italy has worked towards that end. Even though Italy’s parliament has formally a pre-eminent role and is usually consulted on decisions, the decision itself is in the hands of the prime minister who at times can change his decision in a very short space of time. For historical reasons, the armed forces have been kept at a distance from the political decision-making process but with increased experience from international operations their advice has become more important for politicians.
Author interview with expert 4, Rome, November 2014.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Coticchia, Fabrizio, and Carolina De Simone. 2015. All Quiet on the Western Front? Framing Italy’s ‘Peace Mission’ in Afghanistan. In Strategic Narratives, Public Opinion and War. Winning Support for Foreign Military Missions, eds. B. de Graaf, D. Dimitriu, and J. Ringsmose. Routledge: London and New York. 219–240
Fini, Gianfranco. 2003. Camera dei Deputati. Speech by President of the Lower Chamber of the Italian Parliament. Accessed 1 May 2014.
Feaver, Peter D. 1999. Civil Military Relations. Annual Review of Political Science 2: 211–241.
Gaiani, Gianandrea. 2007. Iraq-Afghanistan Guerre Di Pace Italiane. Venezia: Studio LT2.
Giacomello, Giampiero, and Bertjan Verbreek. 2011. Italy’s Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century. The New Assertiveness of an Aspiring Middle Power. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Ignazi, Piero, Giampiero Giacomello, and Fabrizio Coticchia. 2012. Just Don’t Call It War- Italian Military Operations Abroad. Palgrave MacMillan: London.
Italian Armed Forces. 2004. OPLAN 10302 Revised for the Authorization of ISAF. del 4 mag. 2006 che ha sostituito l’OPLAN 10302 del 2 apr. 2004.
Italian Constitution. https://www.senato.it/documenti/repository/istituzione/costituzione_inglese.pdf
King, Anthony. 2011. The Transformation of European Armed Forces. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Labanca, Nicola. 2009. Le Armi Della Repubblica: Dalla Liberazione a Oggi. In Gli Italiani in Guerra. Conflitti, Identità, Memorie Dal Risorgimento Ai Nostri Giorni, ed. M. Isnenghi. Torino: Utet.
Marrone, Alessandro, and Federica di Camillo. 2013. Italy. In Strategic Cultures in Europe, eds. B. Giegerich, H. Biehl, and A. Jonas. Vienna: Peter Lang.
Pierini, Jean Pierre. 2013. Pirateria Aspetto Giuridico Nazionale. in Rivista Navale.
Ronzitti, Natalino and Ruffa, Chiara. 2014. L’Italia Nelle Missioni Internazionali: Problematiche Operative E Giuridiche. (Report Prepared for the Italian Parliament. Istituto Affari Internazionali edition).
Rosa, Paolo. 2014. The Accomodationist State: Strategic Culture and Italy’s Military Behaviour. International Relations 28(1): 88–115.
Ruffa, Chiara. 2014. Societal beliefs about the use of force in Israel, Italy and France. The Tocqueville Review/La Revue Tocqueville 35(2): 101–117.
———. 2016. Imagining War and Keeping Peace: Military Cultures in Peace Operations. Philadelphia, PA: Penn University Press.
Ruffa, Chiara, and Pascal Vennesson. 2014. Fighting and Helping? A Historical-Institutionalist Explanation of NGO-Military Relations. Security Studies 23(3): 582–621. doi:10.1080/09636412.2014.935236.
Sundberg, Ralph. and Ruffa, Chiara. 2014. Breaking the Frame: Frame Dissonance in War and Peace. (Paper under Review)
Stewart, Rory. 2006. The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq. Toronto: Penguin Canada.
United Nations. 2016. Troop and police contributors. http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/contributors.shtml (2014-12-12)
Interviews
Expert 1. 2014. Ministry of Defense. Rome: November.
Expert 2. 2014. Joint Chief of Staff. Rome: November.
Expert 3. 2014. Joint Chief of Staff at the time of the Iraqi war. Rome: November.
Expert 4. 2014. Ministry of Defense. Rome: November.
Expert 5. 2014. Tink tank. Rome: November.
Expert 6. 2014. Tink tank. Rome: November.
Expert 7. 2014. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Rome, November
Expert 8. 2014. Tink tank. Rome: November
Expert 9. 2014. Ministry of defense (Via email).
Expert 10. 2014. Joint Chief of Staff (Via phone).
Expert 11. 2010. Officer, (Kabul, Afghanistan).
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Laura Grant for excellent editing. Remaining mistakes are all mine.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ruffa, C. (2016). “Just Deploy and Always Call It Peacekeeping!” Italian Strategic Culture and International Military Operations. In: Britz, M. (eds) European Participation in International Operations . New Security Challenges. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39759-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39759-7_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39758-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39759-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)