Least of the great powers

"Least of the great powers" is a label used to conceptualize Italy's international status as a great power.[1][2][3][4] This concept originated with the unification of the country in the late 19th century, when Italy was admitted in the concert of powers. Nowadays, Italy is also part of great power concerts such as the EU trio, the NATO Quint, the G7 and various International Contact Groups.[5][6][7][8][9][10] Italy is also one of the world's largest economies, one of the UN's and the EU's major funders, the leading nation of the Uniting for Consensus, and serves as one of the UN states of chief importance in providing shipping services,[11] air transport, and industrial development. Alternative terms used by academics to describe Italy's role in global affairs include "awkward great power", "intermittent major power", and "small great power".[12][13][14]

  1. ^ Tiersky, Ronald; Jones, Erik (12 June 2014). Europe Today: A Twenty-first Century Introduction. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442221116. Retrieved 10 March 2022 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Jones, Erik; Pasquino, Gianfranco (5 November 2015). The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-164850-2. Retrieved 10 March 2022 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Foot, John (7 May 2014). Modern Italy. Macmillan International Higher Education. ISBN 9781137041920. Retrieved 10 March 2022 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Beretta, Silvio; Berkofsky, Axel; Rugge, Fabio (1 July 2014). Italy and Japan: How Similar Are They?: A Comparative Analysis of Politics, Economics, and International Relations. Springer. ISBN 9788847025684. Retrieved 10 March 2022 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Canada Among Nations, 2004: Setting Priorities Straight. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. 17 January 2005. p. 85. ISBN 0773528369. Retrieved 13 June 2016. ("The United States is the sole world's superpower. France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom are great powers")
  6. ^ Sterio, Milena (2013). The right to self-determination under international law : "selfistans", secession and the rule of the great powers. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. p. xii (preface). ISBN 978-0415668187. Retrieved 13 June 2016. ("The great powers are super-sovereign states: an exclusive club of the most powerful states economically, militarily, politically and strategically. These states include veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council (United States, United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia), as well as economic powerhouses such as Germany, Italy and Japan.")
  7. ^ Transforming Military Power since the Cold War: Britain, France, and the United States, 1991–2012. Cambridge University Press. 2013. p. 224. ISBN 978-1107471498. Retrieved 13 June 2016. (During the Kosovo War (1998) "...Contact Group consisting of six great powers (the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and Italy).")
  8. ^ Why are Pivot States so Pivotal? The Role of Pivot States in Regional and Global Security. Netherlands: The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies. 2014. p. Table on page 10 (Great Power criteria). Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  9. ^ Carter, Keith Lambert (2019). Great Power, Arms, And Alliances. Retrieved 25 January 2021. U.S., Russia, China, France, Germany, U.K. and Italy - Table on page 56,72 (Major powers-great power criteria)
  10. ^ Kuper, Stephen. "Clarifying the nation's role strengthens the impact of a National Security Strategy 2019". Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2020. Traditionally, great powers have been defined by their global reach and ability to direct the flow of international affairs. There are a number of recognised great powers within the context of contemporary international relations – with Great Britain, France, India and Russia recognised as nuclear capable great powers, while Germany, Italy and Japan are identified as conventional great powers
  11. ^ "Italy re-elected to IMO Council". Archived from the original on 2017-03-20. Retrieved 2017-03-20.
  12. ^ Gabriele Abbondanza; Thomas Wilkins, eds. (2021). Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-981-16-0369-3. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  13. ^ Jones, Bruce D. (2014-03-17). Still Ours to Lead: America, Rising Powers, and the Tension between Rivalry and Restraint. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 9780815725138.
  14. ^ Italy: 150 years of a small great power, eurasia-rivista.org, 21 December 2010