Italy embraces the Belt and Road Initiative - Threats and opportunities through the lens of five case studies

By focusing on five fields of cooperation between China and Italy, the lecture will shed light on whether the Belt and Road Initiative MoU has brought about an intensification of bilateral collaboration as expected by the Italian government.

In March 2019, by signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the Italian government officially embraced the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This event sparked a fierce debate at the time because Italy was the first – and so far the only -- G7 country to officially join the highly controversial project of the People’s Republic of China. The United States and several European countries expressed concerns about what they saw as Italy embarking on a dangerous road for its sovereignty as well as for the Euro-Atlantic community. Despite being the focus of media and scholars’ attention in 2019, no comprehensive study has been conducted so far to assess the development of the BRI in Italy. By focusing on five fields of cooperation between China and Italy, the lecture will shed light on whether the MoU has brought about an intensification of bilateral collaboration as expected by the Italian government and whether the concerns of US and other European member states have materialised.