Italia e America Latina. L'analisi della politica estera italiana, verso il subcontinente, durante la prima fase repubblicana (1954-1987)

This dissertation offers a detailed examination of Italian foreign policy during the early Republican period with particular attention to relations with Latin America. It investigates how domestic dynamics—political negotiations, party ideologies, and electoral pressures—shaped Italy’s strategic orientation abroad. The central research question asks in what ways internal factors and the organizational structures of political parties influence the formulation of Italian foreign policy in Latin America. Specifically, the study elucidates how intra‐executive bargaining within Italy’s multiparty system and the accompanying domestic pressures determined the country’s international posture, highlighting the challenges and opportunities arising from the interplay between domestic politics and external projection. Methodologically, the project combines foreign‐policy analysis with historical research, enabling a contextualized interpretation of Italy’s diplomatic choices over time. Drawing on archival sources and historical documents, it reconstructs the evolution of Italy’s foreign‐policy framework from the early years of the Republic through subsequent institutional transformations. This approach not only sheds light on continuity and change in strategic orientations but also reveals the nexus between internal decision‐making and external dynamics. It recognizes that foreign‐policy outcomes are contingent and based on structural and ideological factors operating within multiparty executives, where divergent visions necessitate processes of mediation and compromise. The analysis further underscores the catalytic role of public opinion and parliamentary oversight, which drive revisions and recalibrations of strategic priorities. Electoral dynamics and social consensus (or dissent) exert decisive influence on foreign policy, producing a “two‐level game” in which domestic and international spheres interact critically for the success of adopted strategies. In the Latin American context, the study conducts in‐depth case studies of Chile and Argentina. It shows that from the Republic’s earliest years, Italy’s engagement with the subcontinent rested on two pillars: a well‐entrenched Italian diaspora, which provided a historical and cultural foundation for bilateral ties and evolving economic and strategic interests. The Chilean case—particularly following the 1973 coup and the ensuing dictatorship—served as a critical test of the interaction between domestic pressures and international imperatives, mobilizing public opinion and polarizing parliamentary debate and party strategies. In Argentina, Italian support was closely entwined with the influence of a large emigrant community, reinforcing cultural affinities and economic linkages. In both cases, Italian foreign‐policy decisions emerged from a complex process in which electoral considerations produced an international strategy that, while grounded in ideological commitments, adapted to global shifts and changing political priorities. In sum, this dissertation demonstrates that a comprehensive understanding of foreign policy requires an integrated analysis of domestic dynamics. By weaving together multiple decision‐making processes, the work reveals how a country’s international projection is the product of a synergistic combination of structural elements and contextual dynamics, opening new interpretive pathways for a more nuanced and sophisticated view of global strategies.