Under the pressure of the new US administration’s aggressive rhetoric, 2017 has revealed that traditional dynamics among great powers are back in the international context of the XXI century. Contrary to the most optimistic predictions and discourses of the early post-Cold War period, the “game of big powers” is regaining centre stage. This is mainly due to three intertwined processes: the growth and renewed assertiveness of potential United States’ global competitors such as Russia and China; the enduring crisis of multilateralism and global co-existence; and even more, the breakdown of the regional order into increasingly autonomous arenas, where regional powers are on the rise.

The ISPI 2018 Report reflects upon this change, only partly offset by positive news coming from the global economy over the past year. The first part of the volume focuses on the global context; the second investigates the role Europe can play in a “world of big powers”; the last part addresses Italian foreign policy.

 

Edited by:

 

Alessandro Colombo
Professor of International Relations at the University of Milan and Head of ISPI's Transatlantic Relations Programme.

 

Paolo Magri
Executive Vice President and Director of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) and Professor of International Relations at Bocconi University. He is also Member of the Europe Policy Group of the World Economic Forum and member of the Strategic Committee of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

 

The Report (available for download) will be discussed in a series of 13 conferences in Italy and abroad.

 

Past conferences:

 

Milan, 19 February 2.30pm - University of Milan

Milan, 21 February 6.00pm - ISPI

Rome, 22 February 5.00pm - Foreign Press Association

Palermo, 9 March 2.30pm - Palazzo Branciforte

Berlin, 16 March 8.45am - DGAP German Council on Foreign Relations

Genoa, 16 March 10.30am - University of Genoa

Trento, 21 March 4.00pm - SIS | School of International Studies

Bruxelles, 22 March 1.00pm - Bruegel

Turin, 5 April 6.00pm - Training Command and Application School of the Army
(By invitation only)

Milan, 10 April 6.00pm - Bocconi University
(Closed-door Event)

Venice, 11 April 3.00pm - Ca' Foscari University of Venice

 

Upcoming conferences:

Bologna, 13 April 3.00pm - University of Bologna

Pavia, 19 April 4.00pm - University of Pavia