I presidenti sulla scena internazionale

Nel quadro istituzionale italiano, definire e attuare la politica estera è prerogativa del Governo (ossia della maggioranza parlamentare di cui è espressione). Tuttavia il Costituente ha scientemente lasciato anche al Presidente della Repubblica un margine d’azione affinché, nell’interesse del paese e seguendo il faro della Costituzione, possa ovviare a situazioni di stallo del quadro politico. Questo riguarda anche l’ambito internazionale, che, fin dalla nascita della Repubblica, ha visto da parte del Quirinale un interessamento vivo e, talvolta, contestato. Alcuni inquilini del Colle hanno interpretato in maniera alquanto estensiva le proprie prerogative, svolgendo o tentando di svolgere sulla scena internazionale un ruolo tutt’altro che marginale. Il presente contributo analizza questo ruolo attraverso tutta la storia repubblicana e con particolare attenzione ad alcuni vettori tradizionali della poltitica estera italiana, da quello atlantico a quello europeo, da quello sovietico (e poi russo) a quello arabo e mediorientale

Italy's Attention Turns to China Between the '50 and the '60

It is surprising that the very existence and recognition of China had significant repercussions on domestic policy in Italy, which was the country with the strongest Communist party in the West. In the '50s the Italian official policy was compelled by membership in Atlantic alliance and relations with United States, to refuse economic exchanges with China. According to documents found in "Ministero degli Affari Esteri" and in "Aldo Moro" archives, even in the same years political characters such as the Socialist Pietro Nenni, the Christian Democrats Giovanni Gronchi and Amintore Fanfani worked to favour China-Italy exchanges and economic actors like Dino Gentili and Enrico Mattei organised economic Italian missions to China. Since 1960, thanks to trade relations set up in the '50s, and to political events (December 1963 the first centre-left government with Aldo Moro president, Pietro Nenni vicepresident and Giuseppe Saragat to foreign affairs, and at the beginning of 1964 the French political recognition of China), the process was accelerated. Thus, in December 1964 the first commercial agreement between Italy and China was concluded and commercial offices were opened in Rome and Beijing. After 1964 the Chinese question entered Italian foreign policy and was included in parliamentary debates and government programmes. The American diplomacy, dominated by the Vietnam war, opposed any initiative to Chinese recognition but Italy anticipated the better reported, more celebrated US recognition