This book offers a re-examination of foreign policy, in its relation with domestic politics and international relations (IR).

Bringing together a vast body of literature from IR, foreign policy analysis, comparative politics and public policy, this book systematically reconceptualises foreign policy as a dialectic, produced by the interplay of context, strategy and discourse. It argues that foreign policy defies easy understandings and necessitates a complex framework of analysis, introducing the 'Strategic-Relational Model', as conceptualised in critical realism, for the first time to the field of foreign policy analysis. Combining a comprehensive investigation of the last century of Italian foreign policy with an exploration of a key theoretical issue within the field of foreign policy analysis and IR, this book analyses key episodes within Italian foreign policy, including Italy's Cold War alliance politics, colonial interventions, fascist foreign policy and Italy's participation in the wars of Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. It provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the long-term historical trajectory of Italian foreign policy, from the Liberal age to the 'Second Republic', including all four governments of Silvio Berlusconi.

Foreign Policy, Domestic Politics and International Relations will be of interest to students and scholars of International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis and Italian politics.

About the Author
Elisabetta Brighi is a Lecturer in International Relations at the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Reviews

"This well-written book truly sheds light on a very basic question of what characteristics Italian foreign policy in general displays and whether there is continuity or change in Italian foreign policy... The author makes a valuable contribution to the fields of International Relations, Comparative Politics and FPA where the book can also be helpful for many other scholars to spur further innovative studies and for the application of strategic-relational model to different cases. It might be also interesting for the readers who are interested and engaged in Italian foreign policy in its relations with contemporary international political issues."

Gokcen Yavas, Insight Turkey

Book Information
ISBN 9781138946200
Author Elisabetta Brighi
Format Paperback
Page Count 198
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 317g