Director: Ettore Greco
Researcher: Riccardo Alcaro
Programme & Events assistant: Anna Gaone

The IAI has always focussed particular attention on transatlantic issues, and North American experts have participated in many of its research projects and conferences. The Institute's publications, particularly the periodicals The International Spectator and Global, regularly include contributions from North American authors.

Since its foundation, the IAI has contributed to the formulation of policies aimed at promoting Italy's role in transatlantic relations. It has made a systematic effort to analyze the weaknesses and potential of the common transatlantic policies related to the areas of greatest political/strategic interest to Italy, such as the Balkans, Russia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Other important transatlantic issues that the Institute addresses include the future of NATO, crisis management in Europe, and trade relations between the US and Europe.

The program on Euro-Atlantic relations aims to promote the exchange of ideas and cooperation between North American and European politicians and experts so as to strengthen transatlantic ties. It involves various types of initiatives, including studies, conferences, and publications intended to develop proposals and suggestions to continually revise and update the Euro-American agenda continually. Since 1999 the program has contributed to a adding a more complete transatlantic dimension to IAI's  traditional activities regarding the Balkans and the Middle East.

This program, the agenda of which is set annually, is largely based on an institutional agreement with the German Marshall Fund in Washington and the Compagnia di San Paolo in Turin.

Projects in progress

Transworld - Redefining the transatlantic relationship and its role in shaping global governance (R.Alcaro, N.Tocci)

In an era of global flux, emerging powers and interconnectedness, transatlantic relations appear to have lost their bearings. As the international relations system fragments along various policy domains (security, economy, environment, human rights etc.) with different power constellations (multipolar, interpolar, nonpolar), the US and the EU are no longer able to claim leadership in global governance as they were in the past. Traditional paradigms to understand the transatlantic relationship are therefore wanting. A new approach is needed to spot the direction transatlantic relations are taking. Transworld, a project funded by the European Union's 7th Framework Programme, provides such an approach. Throughout 3 and ½ years, the IAI-led consortium responsible for developing the project, which comprises 13 universities, think tanks and companies from the EU, US, and Turkey, will: a) ascertain whether transatlantic relations are drifting apart, adapting along an ad hoc cooperation-based pattern, or evolving into a different but resilient special partnership; b) assess the role of the re-defined transatlantic relationship in the global governance architecture; c) provide tested policy recommendations to enhance EU-US cooperation. (Financing: European Union's 7th Framework Programme; Compagnia di San Paolo; Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Publications:
Transworld working papers

IAI-GMFUS Strategic Partnership (R.Aliboni, S.Colombo, E.Greco)
See section on the Mediterranean and Middle East.

Annual Symposium on Transatlantic Security (R. Alcaro, A.Dessì)
The fifth edition of the Transatlantic Security Symposium was held on November 16, 2012 at Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome and focused on the “Potential and Challenges of EU-US Relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)”. In light of the growing political and economic influence of the Arab Gulf States across the Middle East and North Africa and the relative decline of the West’s capacity to influence events in the region, this year’s Symposium explored three specific issues – the Arab Spring, increasing tensions with Iran and West-GCC security cooperation – as a means to highlight potential areas of convergence and disagreement between the transatlantic partners and the GCC. The Symposium called for a re-assessment of what is a stake for the transatlantic partners in their relationships with the GCC, and how the transatlantic partners can develop such relationships in a manner that reflects their strategic interests as well as their underlining values. The conference hosted a keynote speech by a NATO official addressing the Alliance’s relations with the GCC. High-level guests from the US, Europe, the Middle East and the Gulf region addressed the conference and debated on the three issues from different perspectives. Two academic research papers were presented on each of these issues and will serve as a basis to favor debate between the invited guests. A revised version of the papers, updated in light of the seminar’s proceedings, has been published together with a report of the conference in an ad hoc volume prepared by IAI. (financing: Compagnia di San Paolo, Robert Bosch Stiftung, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NATO Public Diplomacy Division and the US Embassy in Rome)
Previous editions

Academic conferences in cooperation with NATO Allied Command Transformation and Bologna University (R.Alcaro, A.Marrone)
This series of academic conferences - sponsored by NATO's Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and organized by IAI - aim to create a virtuous circle of reciprocal information and advice between NATO officials and the academy. The second conference, organised in cooperation with Bologna University and ACT, was held on 26-27 October 2012 in Bologna. It focused on Dynamic Change. Re-thinking NATO's Capabilities, Operations, and Partnerships. Around 50 senior experts from North America, Europe and countries from other regions attended the event. Proceedings have been collected into an ad hoc ACT publication edited by IAI and Bologna University. (Financing: ACT)

Public opinion trends in North America and Europe (E.Greco)
In 2012 IAI has continued to contribute to the presentation in Italy of the Transatlantic Trends report, the survey on US and European public opinion’s view of the transatlantic relationship promoted annually by the Compagnia di San Paolo and the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Previous editions

Focus euroatlantico [Focus on Transatlantic Relations] (R.Alcaro)
This is a quarterly report on the evolution of US-EU relations and transatlantic policies, produced for the Italian Parliament in the framework of the broader and more comprehensive Osservatorio di Politica Internazionale [= Observatory of International Relations], which also involves Italy’s Foreign Ministry. In its current form, the report - ideal extension of the former Transatlantic Observatory - includes three parts: an introductory editorial concerning a critical issue on the spotlight in the previous three months; a general overview of the main developments in the transatlantic relationship; and a report of the foreign policy debate in the US Congress. The Focus on Transatlantic Relations, like all other studies produced within the Observatory of International Relations, aims at providing the parliamentary delegations at the assemblies of the international organisations (most notably NATO) and the House and Senate Defence and Foreign Affairs Committees with a regularly upgraded analysis.
All issues produced so far are available on this website.

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