In recent years, Italy’s foreign policy has been searching for a new balance between a multilateral commitment to the European Union, NATO and the United Nations and the development of a broad network of bilateral relationships.

This paper examines the limits of this adjustment, taking into account both some historical constants and the recent evolution of the international system affecting current Italian foreign policy – particularly the weakening of the multilateral context and the consequences of the economic crisis.

Against this backdrop, the paper focuses on Italian foreign policy in 2010. On the one hand, it stresses the growth of bilateral activities with both old and new partners. On the other, it assesses the means of Italian foreign policy, their limits and the recent reforms.