Charting Italy’s Indo-Pacific strategy: from Mare Nostrum to Mare Omnium?

Abstract

.

The Indo-Pacific is gradually becoming the world’s most significant maritime region in both geopolitical and geoeconomic terms. In recent years, many extra-regional actors, including several European states, have acknowledged this condition by publishing a number of Indo-Pacific strategies. In light of Italy’s economic, political, and strategic interests in this area, however, the absence of a dedicated Italian policy on the Indo-Pacific stands out. Against this backdrop, this article contributes to recent debates by providing the first scholarly research specifically assessing Italy’s potential Indo-Pacific strategy. To that end, it contextualises the Indo-Pacific’s significance and it explains the growing interest in this region with the support of international relations theories. Next, it outlines the advantages and hazards concerning the country’s renewed attention to the Indo-Pacific, which are then assessed through a cost–benefit analysis of the potential Italian strategy. It finds that although there are several potential risks, which ought to be addressed in the future, these do not pose actual obstacles to the development of a formal regional policy. Additionally, the cost–benefit analysis reveals that the advantages outweigh the risks. Consequently, it concludes that the time is ripe for the development of a multilateral, cooperative, and flexible Italian strategy for the Indo-Pacific, which this article argues would benefit from seven elements. These are multilateralism, stability, prosperity, cooperation, security, synergy, and connectivity. As a novel research on a significant yet under-examined topic, this article provides a useful contribution to the study of both Italian foreign policy and Indo-Pacific security.