The Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society of the University of Turin are pleased to announce an in-person event to reflect on trajectories and perspectives of Italian foreign policy in the context of the Russian war against Ukraine.

Italy’s leaders are confronting a decision about whether to withdraw from the Memorandum of Understanding with China on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). When Italy signed the MoU in 2019, facing strong criticism from both the EU and the United States, it became the first and only G7 country to join China’s BRI. How has Italy benefitted from the memorandum? What are the respective costs and consequences of withdrawal and extension? And how does the EU’s evolving approach to China impact Italy and vice versa?

Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic - 27 September 2023

Hearing of the IAI President, Ferdinando Nelli Feroci. Also speaking: Maria Luisa Fantappiè, head of the IAI Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa programme, and Francesca Caruso, researcher of the same programme.