This five year project, which began in January 2007, was an integrated project funded by the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission. Its aim was to analyse the micro causes of ethno-political conflicts (private violence, property security, gender/ethnic discrimination, etc). 23 institutes were involved in the project, which was led by the Institute of Development Studies (United Kingdom).

This three-year research project analysed the effects of European strategies and policies in the four "European" sea basins: the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The project, begun in January 2009, brought together eight institutes and was coordinated by the Fundació Centre Internacional de Documentació of Barcelona (CIDOB. The aim was to determine whether European policies (enlargement, neighbourhood, partnership, etc.) were consistent with the objective of promoting multilateralism at a regional and sub-regional levels.

This project assessed the contributions of Italy and the European Union to the functioning and reform of the UN security system and put forward policy recommendations aimed at increasing their role in the definition and implementation of the international security agenda.

The results were published in IAI Quaderni. English series n. 11, Strenghtening the UN security system: the role of Italy and the EU.

This is a follow-up of the research project on European democracy, launched by the IAI, in co-operation with Notre Europe (Paris) and the Centro Studi sul Federalismo (Turin) in early 2009, before the European Parliament elections. It analyses the Lisbon Treaty, whose implementation will hopefully result in a broader involvement of European citizens in the integration process, and its provisions aimed at dealing with the problem of the EU's so-called democratic deficit.