Italy's Disastrously Incoherent Foreign Policy

Francesco Galietti

Politics, Europe

Rome is on the losing end of a global struggle for influence.

At the latest mid-June St. Petersburg forum, commonly known as the “Russian Davos,” Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and a large delegation of senior members of his cabinet were greeted as guests of honor. It was only after showing up in St. Petersburg that Renzi also made a quick stop in New York to campaign for a permanent seat for Italy at the UN Security Council. The move did not pay out. On the contrary, it was the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back. With only ninety-five votes at the General Assembly, Italy was “betrayed” by at least twenty-five countries. Italian observers speculate these include Gulf countries, highly critical of Italy’s constantly changing position in Libya, as well as eastern and western European countries who dislike Rome’s flirtation with Moscow. On June 28, following a stalemate at the General Assembly, Italy and the Netherlands decided to split the two-year term at the Security Council. This choice was immediately marketed as a “message of unity between two European countries” by Italy’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni. As one can tell, that was hardly the original idea.

With his popularity in sharp decline, shaking hands with Vladimir Putin, musing over Moscow’s silovarchs or lobbying for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council were in all likelihood ways for Renzi to remind Italians that he now sees himself above and beyond domestic politics—and that the grand chessboard of foreign affairs, rather than local skirmishing, is now his domain. If that is the case, he should consider the implications of his moves more carefully.