Page 37 - Coespu Magazine 2018-2

participating actively in multilateral operations. Indeed, even the activation of a small police
training mission in Jericho – tasked with training the Palestinian Police in sectors such investigative
techniques, public order and anti-terrorism – responds to a well-planned foreign policy agenda,
having among its objectives, in the words of Italian Defence Staff, that of ‘increasing the national
presence and influence in the region, at the bilateral level as well as at the level of the main
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international organizations’. This strategy yields a great deal of benefits given that Italian forces,
after almost three decades of intense participation in international operations, are extremely valued
by allies and international organizations.
Italy’s ‘quest’ for recognition on the international stage is, to an extent, also related to the country’s
multilateral vocation, which is simultaneously a genuine and strong normative-based predisposition,
and the result of the country’s lack of alternatives to count on the international scene outside

multilateral frameworks. On some occasions, this position has led to the country having intervened
in contexts devoid of clearly-defined strategic interest, as in the case of Haiti, and some mission
deployments in sub-Saharan Africa, where Rome decided to follow its allies and partners for the
sake of ‘being a part’ of the international community.
Third, international policing perfectly fits an Italian security culture that distinguishes Italy’s role in
missions abroad. Indeed, the Italian contribution is always presented to the public and discussed and
approved in Parliament with an emphasis on its peaceful and humanitarian character while
downplaying the military dimension of the missions. Multilateralism, peace and humanitarianism
are the common values that Italian decision-makers appeal to in order to support and justify the
deployment of Italian troops abroad in the post-Cold War international context. From this

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http://www.difesa.it/OperazioniMilitari/op_int_concluse/Palestina_MIADIT/Pagine/Missione.aspx (author’s
translation).

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