Italian soft power

Last updated

Italian soft power, the capacity of Italy to influence other countries and cultures without using coercive means has evolved and changed over time with modern Italy manifesting soft power primarily through Italian cultural heritage, language, cuisine, and diplomacy. Historically, Fascist Italy employed soft power through Italian cultural heritage, from the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. Joseph Nye defined soft power as the ability of a country to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion. Unlike hard power, which involves military and economic strength. Italy has been dubbed a "soft power superpower". [1] [2]

Contents

Historically

In Fascist Italy

In the first half of the 20th century, Fascist Italy, under Mussolini, utilized soft power strategies alongside its more aggressive foreign policies to extend its influence and power abroad. This approach included leveraging the arts, science, and culture to further diplomatic goals, building upon pre-fascist traditions of cultural diplomacy. The 1930s, in particular, saw significant cultural exchanges between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, which, while ideologically driven by their respective regimes, also drew on established practices of cultural diplomacy that existed prior to their fascist governments. [3] [4]

The Fascist government leveraged cultural diplomacy to build political alliances and influence foreign public opinion. It focused on portraying themes such as the Roman era, the Renaissance, and the Risorgimento (the movement for Italian unification) in ways that supported its political agenda. Even though these cultural initiatives had a propagandistic slant, they played a significant role in extending Italy's cultural reach. [4] [3]

Through culture

Language

The Italian language through institutions such as the "Dante Alighieri" Society have been assisted in spreading Italian language and culture worldwide. The establishment of Italian language courses, cultural centers, and the promotion of Italian literature globally have significantly contributed to Italy's cultural influence, making the language a tool for international engagement especially in cultural . [2] [5]

Cuisine

Italian cuisine represents a significant aspect of the country's soft power. Italian cuisine has influenced global culinary traditions and fostered cultural connections, with foreign chefs going to Italy to study and Italian restaurants prevalent worldwide. Iconic Italian dishes like pizza and pasta have become integral to global cuisine, serving as ambassadors of Italian culture. This culinary influence is strategically used to promote Italy's broader cultural appeal, with Italy organizing festivals and expos linking Italian gastronomy to Italy's soft power goals as well as strengthening Italy's global position in the fields. [2] [6] Gastronomy events like the “Week of Italian Cuisine in the World” and international culinary partnerships have enhanced Italy's global image and cultural influence. [2] [6] [7]

Architecture and the arts

Italy's soft power is significantly evident in its contributions to architecture and the arts. Italian architecture, characterized by structures such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon of ancient Rome, and Renaissance works like Florence's Cathedral and the Vatican, has had a profound influence on global architectural practices and styles. Italian art has influenced European art markedly since the Renaissance period, with figures like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael shaping Western art's trajectory. Italian universities and schools remain a substantial focal point of world art and Italy continues to draw cultural tourism, positively impacting its cultural influence internationally and contributing to the Italian economy. Significant international exhibitions related to the arts and architecture are held in Italy, most notably the Venice Biennale. [8] [9] [10]

Through diplomacy

The Directorate for Culture and Public Diplomacy, established as part of the foreign ministry, focuses on leveraging Italy's cultural strengths to build influence and global consensus. Italy's involvement in international organizations such as UNESCO and its active participation in international events like INNOPROM, thus Italy utilizes its cultural influence to further its diplomatic position. [11] These diplomatic activities are said to serve multiple objectives. For instance, Italy's participation as a partner country in INNOPROM-2021 was not limited to showcasing industrial strengths but also included a range of cultural interactions, highlighting Italian cultural heritage and lifestyle. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine</span> Characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions

A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to enable dishes unique to a region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italy</span> Country in Southern Europe

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, it consists of a peninsula surrounded by the Alps and several islands, notably Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and two enclaves: Vatican City and San Marino. Its territory also includes Campione and the Pelagie Islands. It is the tenth-largest country by land area in the European continent, covering an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi), and the third-most populous member state of the European Union, with a population of nearly 60 million. Its capital and largest city is Rome.

Superpower describes a state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political, and cultural strength as well as diplomatic and soft power influence. Traditionally, superpowers are preeminent among the great powers. While a great power state is capable of exerting its influence globally, superpowers are states so influential that no significant action can be taken by the global community without first considering the positions of the superpowers on the issue.

In politics, soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce. It involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. Soft power is non-coercive, using culture, political values, and foreign policies to enact change. In 2012, Joseph Nye of Harvard University explained that with soft power, "the best propaganda is not propaganda", further explaining that during the Information Age, "credibility is the scarcest resource".

Diplomatic history deals with the history of international relations between states. Diplomatic history can be different from international relations in that the former can concern itself with the foreign policy of one state while the latter deals with relations between two or more states. Diplomatic history tends to be more concerned with the history of diplomacy, but international relations concern more with current events and creating a model intended to shed explanatory light on international politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Italy</span>

The culture of Italy encompasses the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, and customs of the Italian peninsula and of the Italians throughout history. Italy has been the centre of the Roman civilization and of the Catholic Church, as well as the starting point of movements with a great international impact such as the Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism and Futurism. Italy is considered a cultural superpower and the Italian peninsula one of the birthplaces of Western civilization. Due to its comparatively late unification, and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the Italian peninsula, many traditions and customs that are now recognized as distinctly Italian can be identified by their regions of origin. Despite the political and social isolation of some of these regions, Italy made significant contributions to the cultural and historical heritage of Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italians</span> Nation and ethnic group native to Italy

Italians are a genetically and culturally diverse ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians can be considered an ethnic group because they share a common core of culture, history, ancestry, and usage of Italian language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle power</span> Type of state

In international relations, a middle power is a sovereign state that is not a great power nor a superpower, but still has large or moderate influence and international recognition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural diplomacy</span> Exchange of culture between nations

Cultural diplomacy is a type of public diplomacy and soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose of cultural diplomacy is for the people of a foreign nation to develop an understanding of the nation's ideals and institutions in an effort to build broad support for economic and political objectives. In essence "cultural diplomacy reveals the soul of a nation", which in turn creates influence. Public diplomacy has played an important role in advancing national security objectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian Tunisians</span> Italian community in Tunisia

Italian Tunisians are Tunisian-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Tunisia during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Tunisia. Migration and colonization, particularly during the 19th century, led to significant numbers of Italians settling in Tunisia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gualtiero Marchesi</span> Italian chef (1930–2017)

Gualtiero Marchesi was an Italian chef, unanimously considered the founder of the new Italian cuisine and, in the opinion of many, the most famous Italian chef in the world and the one who has contributed most to the development of Italian cuisine, placing the Italian culinary culture among the most important around the world, with the creation of the Italian version of the French nouvelle cuisine.

The culture of Rome in Italy refers to the arts, high culture, language, religion, politics, libraries, cuisine, architecture and fashion in Rome, Italy. Rome was supposedly founded in 753 BC and ever since has been the capital of the Roman Empire, one of the main centres of Christianity, the home of the Roman Catholic Church and the seat of the Italian Republic. Due to its historical and social importance, Rome has been nicknamed the Caput Mundi, or "capital of the world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italophilia</span> Admiration, general appreciation or love of Italy, its culture, society, arts and people

Italophilia is the admiration, appreciation or emulation of Italy, its people, culture and its contibutions to Western civilization. Its opposite is Italophobia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diplomacy</span> Practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states

Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or nongovernmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full spectrum diplomacy</span>

Full spectrum diplomacy is a combination of traditional, government-to-government diplomacy with the many components of public diplomacy as well as the integration of these two functions with other instruments of statecraft. The term was coined by John Lenczowski, founder and president of The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. in his book Full Spectrum Diplomacy and Grand Strategy: Reforming the Structure and Culture of U.S. Foreign Policy which was released in May, 2011.

The global cuisine or world cuisine is a cuisine that is practiced around the world. A cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific region, country or culture. To become a global cuisine, a local, regional or national cuisine must spread around the world, its food served worldwide. There have been significant improvements and advances during the 20th century in food preservation, storage, shipping and production, and today many countries, cities and regions have access to their traditional cuisines and many other global cuisines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States cyber-diplomacy</span>

Cyber-diplomacy is the evolution of public diplomacy to include and use the new platforms of communication in the 21st century. As explained by Jan Melissen in The New Public Diplomacy: Soft Power in International Relations, cyber-diplomacy “links the impact of innovations in communication and information technology to diplomacy.” Cyber-diplomacy is also known as or is part of public diplomacy 2.0, Digital diplomacy, EDiplomacy, and virtual diplomacy. Cyber-diplomacy has as its underpinnings that, “it recognizes that new communication technologies offer new opportunities to interact with a wider public by adopting a network approach and making the most of an increasingly multicentric global, interdependent system.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culinary diplomacy</span> Type of cultural diplomacy

Culinary diplomacy, gastrodiplomacy or food diplomacy is a type of cultural diplomacy, which itself is a subset of public diplomacy. Its basic premise is that "the easiest way to win hearts and minds is through the stomach". Official government-sponsored culinary diplomacy programs have been established in Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, Israel, the United States, Cambodia, Japan, and Nordic countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soft power of China</span>

The soft power of China is the indirect and non-military influence of the People's Republic of China that can be observed outside the country around the world. While soft power as a concept can be summarized as "get others to do your bidding" without resorting to hard power, it has been argued that the Chinese government uses a different approach to "get others to stop harming your image" which is more in line with its domestic policies.

Italocentrism is a cultural and historical perspective that places a strong emphasis on the importance of Italian culture and contributions to art, literature, and philosophy. This worldview emphasizes Italy's influential role in shaping Western civilization, acknowledging the impact of the Roman Empire, Renaissance, and other pivotal periods. References supporting Italocentrism include scholarly works by historians such as Luigi Barzini and Umberto Eco, who extensively explore the impact of Italian culture.

References

  1. ↑ "6 p. 99Italy's 'soft' power". academic.oup.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Italy: Soft Power Superpower? The New Official Projection of Italian Creativity". USC Center on Public Diplomacy. 2022-02-16.
  3. 1 2 Brydan, David (2016-09-20). "Hard right, soft power: fascist regimes and the battle for hearts and minds". The Conversation.
  4. 1 2 https://czasopisma.marszalek.com.pl/images/pliki/siip/18/siip1802.pdf
  5. ↑ Zonova, Tatiana (2013). "The Italian language: soft power or dolce potere?". Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali. 80 (2 (318)): 227–231. ISSN   0035-6611. JSTOR   42741242.
  6. 1 2 "Food as a Soft Power Tool in Public Diplomacy and in the Private Sector: Comparing Italy and France - with Simone Mostratisi". UNISG - University of Gastronomic Sciences.
  7. ↑ https://tesi.luiss.it/19102/1/624492_QUINALE_LUCA.pdf, Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Global Studies Tesi di Laurea in Diplomacy Italian Food Diplomacy as soft power
  8. ↑ "Italy". Soft Power.
  9. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345159612_6_Italy's_'soft'_power
  10. ↑ "Venice Architecture Biennale 2018: soft-power potential - Film". Monocle.
  11. 1 2 Tabarintseva-Romanova, Ksenia (2021-04-02). "Сultural diplomacy as an effective instrument of Italian soft power: the INNOPROM case". Modern Diplomacy.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.