Ambassador Giancarlo Aragona is a member of ISPI Scientific Committee. From 2011 to 2016 he was President of ISPI. After graduating in Law at the University of Messina, he joined the Italian Diplomatic Service in 1969. In 1972 he was appointed Second Secretary at the Italian Embassy in Vienna as a press officer. In 1974, he was posted as Consul in Freiburg in Breisgau (Germany).In 1977 he was appointed Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Italian Embassy in Lagos (Nigeria).

He returned to the Foreign Ministry in Rome in 1980 and, after two years at the Africa Department, in 1982 he was promoted Head of the Mediterranean and Middle East Office at the Department for Development Cooperation. 

In October 1984, he was sent as First Political Counsellor to the Embassy in London.

In 1987 he was moved to the Italian Permanent Representation to the North Atlantic Council (NATO) in Brussels, as Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative. 

He returned to Rome in 1992 to be appointed diplomatic Advisor to the Minister of Defence. In 1994 he became Deputy Director of Cabinet of the Foreign Minister and from 1995, Director of Cabinet of the Foreign Minister. 

In May 1996 he was elected Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna.

In June 1999, he was appointed Italian Ambassador to Moscow, a position he held until October 2001 when he returned to Rome to be appointed Director General for Political Affairs in the MFA.

In 2004, he was sent as Italian Ambassador to London. 

In September 2009, he was nominated by the Secretary General of NATO a member of the Group of Experts entrusted with the preparation of the Alliance Strategic Concept. 

After retirement in December 2009, he has chaired a number of state and private companies.