Italy and the Enlarged Mediterranean: From Historical Legacies to Contemporary Complexities

As geopolitical shifts and security challenges continue to redefine regional dynamics, the concept of the enlarged Mediterranean emerges as a crucial framework for understanding Italy’s strategic environment. From defence doctrines to Italy’s contemporary engagements in the Middle East and Africa, such as the Mattei Plan, an exploration of historical legacies, regional complexities and policy initiatives helps contextualise and understand Rome’s evolving role in the region.

Join us for the online discussion on the enlarged Mediterranean: from historical legacies to contemporary complexities. Fabio De Ninno and Federica Cavo will trace the historical background of the concept based on their edited volume Il Mediterraneo allargato e l’Italia, Maria Luisa Fantappiè will examine the Middle Eastern dilemmas drawing on the IAI book Mediterranean Transitions from the Gulf to the Sahel, while Filippo Simonelli will present insights on Africa and the Mattei Plan from the IAI Rapporto sulla politica estera italiana 2024. Together, they will unpack the evolving geopolitical significance of the enlarged Mediterranean and its implications for Italy’s foreign and security policy.

The discussion will focus on themes such as: the incompatibility between the bio-psychic limits of the human being and the pressures imposed by the economic and technological system; the construction of ecological and ontological niches and the growing gap between the natural habitat and the hyper-technological society; the metaverse as the outcome of a process of progressive de-poorisation of human experience. The concept of the hyperobject and the crisis of perception, i.e. the difficulty of the human mind in processing the systemic challenges of the present (climate crisis, war, inequalities). Finally, reflection will extend to the comparison of cultural models, from Western individualism to the cooperative philosophy of the Japanese Ikigai, with a view to exploring possible future trajectories for human coexistence.

This panel discussion will take the form of an open interdisciplinary dialogue. Participants will be asked to read the text in advance and offer their own reflections from their own field of expertise. The aim is not to analyse the book in its specific details, nor to dwell exclusively on the theses of the authors, but to develop a transversal reading of the contents, creating novel connections between different disciplines and perspectives.

To register and participate online click HERE