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.

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Table of contents

Foreword, Alessandro Colombo, Paolo Magri

Part I - Global Scenarios

1. Trump’s America and the Rest, Alessandro Colombo

2. Russian Foreign Policy between Westphalia and Greater Eurasia, Aldo Ferrari

3. China, a New Model of Great Power, Shaun Breslin

4. Big Powers to the Test

• The Syrian and Iraqi Crisis: Regional and Global Factors, Armando Sanguini
• The Korean Crisis: Regional and Global Dynamics, Antonio Fiori
• Paris Climate Agreement: Historic Turning Point or Nothing but Empty Words?, Alberto Clȏ

5. Emerging Powers. New Room for Regional Powers?

• The Limits of the Iranian Regional Power, Annalisa Perteghella
• The Interventionist Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia, Eleonora Ardemagni
• Turkey: Rise and Fall of a Medium Regional Power, Valeria Talbot
• Japan: A Regional and Global Actor?Not Now and Not Like This, Axel Berkofsky

6. Armed Groups, Governance and the Future of the Middle East, Ranj Alaaldin

7. The World Recovery Marches On, Francesco Daveri

Part II - Europe

8. The European Union and the World: Power beyond Figures, Sonia Lucarelli

9. Sub-national Nationalism and the Catalan Puzzle, Alberto Martinelli

10. Germany and the EU: In Search for a New Direction, Michele Valensise

11. The European Economy: A Year of Recovery, Uncertainty and New Projects, Franco Bruni

Part III – Italy

12. Italy’s Top Foreign Policy Priorities and the Mediterranean, Ugo Tramballi

13. Italian Economic Policy: Broadening the Narrow Path, Franco Bruni

Conclusion. Italy among the “Big Powers”, Giampiero Massolo