Rome’s moment: Draghi, multilateralism, and Italy’s new strategy
Italy has an opportunity to position itself closer to the Franco-German engine and to help construct a multilateral system in which the EU and the US are equal partners
Experts & Staff
Arturo Varvelli
Head, ECFR Rome
Senior Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
Geopolitics and International Relations; MENA Region; Libya; EU-MENA relations; Italian-Libyan relations; Italian foreign policy
Languages
Italian, English, basic French
Biography
Arturo Varvelli is the Head of the Rome Office and a Senior Policy Fellow for the European Council on Foreign Relations. His research interests include geopolitics and international affairs, international relations of the MENA region, EU-MENA relations, Italian foreign policy towards the MENA, and transnational terrorism movements affecting the area. His main focus is Libya, a country he has extensively worked on, unpacking its domestic and foreign politics, and Italian-Libyan relations in particular.
Previously, Varvelli worked as the Co-Head of the MENA Center and Head of the Terrorism Programme at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI). In ISPI, he provided scientific coordination of the “Rome MED – Mediterranean Dialogues” organized by ISPI and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Furthermore, he was also a lecturer of History and Institutions of the Middle East at IULM University in Milan and a Visiting Fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy (EFD).
Varvelli holds a PhD in International History from the University of Milan, and a post-PhD from the CRT Foundation of Turin. He also took part in research projects funded by the Italian Chamber of Representatives and Senate, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Parliament and Commission. In 2015, he was chosen by the US State Department to take part in the International Visitor Leadership Program.
He has extensively published on Libya. His first book, “Italy and the rise of Ghaddafi” (“L’Italia e l’ascesa di Gheddafi”, 2009) focused on Italian-Libyan relations, while later books, published in collaboration with The Atlantic Council and Brookings Institutions, rather delved into Libya’s and the MENA’s foreign projections. In 2018, he took part in a Brooking Institution’s working group on the Libyan crisis.
He is also a regular speaker and commentator on Libyan and MENA issues in the main Italian media. His comments have also appeared in international newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Economist.
Network effects: Europe’s digital sovereignty in the Mediterranean
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Italy and defence under Draghi: A to-do list
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Africa-Europe Relations in 2021
The roundtable will focus on the state of the Africa-Europe relationship with its challenges and opportunities, and the role that Southern Europe could play in the process
Strategic sovereignty: how can Europe survive Biden’s presidency
The event will convene a high-level group of Italian decision-makers and opinion shapers across government, business, media and the expert community as well as member of ECFR Council
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Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics
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Publications
Rome’s moment: Draghi, multilateralism, and Italy’s new strategy
Italy has an opportunity to position itself closer to the Franco-German engine and to help construct a multilateral system in which the EU and the US are equal partners
Network effects: Europe’s digital sovereignty in the Mediterranean
The EU has the ambition and potential to become a sovereign digital power, but it lacks an all-encompassing strategy for the sector, in which individual governments are still the key players
Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics
Europe must improve its early warning systems, supply chain resilience, medical R&D, and cyber security and technology, to act decisively in future emergencies
Articles
Italy and defence under Draghi: A to-do list
Italy can play an active role in shaping European defence policy – if it avoids getting distracted by its internal political tribulations
Views from the Capitals: What Biden’s victory means for Europe
What will a Biden administration herald for Europe? The heads of ECFR’s seven offices report on the mood in the capitals
Views from the capitals: Gas conflict in the eastern Mediterranean
Experts from ECFR’s national offices address the tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over gas reserves
Italy’s chance in Libya
The tide of Libya’s war is turning against renegade general Khalifa Haftar. Italy should seize this opportunity to lead European countries to a harmonised Libya policy.
Italy’s industrial geopolitics: Torn between Europe and China
Italian leaders have developed a dangerous preoccupation with being seen to oppose the rest of Europe – particularly Germany – and wild ideas about a future close relationship with China
Views from the capitals: How the row over coronabonds is tearing Europe apart
ECFR’s national offices discuss the emerging divisions between EU member states on the economic response to covid-19
Uncharted territory: Italy’s response to the coronavirus
As the problems created by the coronavirus quickly escalate, the political credibility of many governments is being tested
Reboot time: Operation Sophia and Italy’s tortuous Libya policy
A new mandate for Operation Sophia could be just what the Italian government is looking for – but much will depend on what the lead players in Libya do next
Views from the capitals: The Libya conference in Berlin
ECFR’s national offices explore whether the conference marks a fresh beginning for Europe’s engagement with war-torn Libya
Italy’s Libyan conundrum: The risks of short-term thinking
By prioritising short-term gains in irregular migration and energy security, Italy and the EU have helped create an unsustainable security and political situation in Libya
Podcasts
Super Mario to the rescue
What are the first challenges Draghi will face in his country and in Brussels?
Europe’s way out of the coronavirus crisis: from self-interest to solidarity?
The coronavirus crisis brought about financial hardship for the European Union, and many agree that a recovery fund would be needed to overcome it. In…
A Gulf apart: How Europe can gain influence with the Gulf Cooperation Council
The ECFR Rome office organized a virtual gathering, moderated by the Head of ECFR Rome Arturo Varvelli, to present the ECFR publication “A Gulf…
Corona Angst – How the virus puts the European Project and globalisation at risk
Recently declared a global pandemic, it is undeniable that the coronavirus will be a global political, social, financial and economic crisis – requiring actions that…
The Berlin Libya Conference: a moment to shine for European foreign policy?
Anthony Dworkin stands in for our usual host, Mark Leonard, to de-brief the Berlin Conference on Libya. Together with the ECFR’s experts Asli Aydıntaşbaş, Tarek…
In the media
The comment by Arturo Varvelli on Draghi and new perspectives for Italian multilateralism
Arturo Varvelli thinks that Mario Draghi’s stature makes a big difference in the country’s foreign policy
According to a study by ECFR, Rome will orient itself more closely than in the past to joint strategies with EU partners and the USA and show less ambition for national understandings with China and Russia
The editorial by Tersa Coratella and Arturo Varvelli on the renewed role of Rome in European architecture and multilateralism
Arturo Varvelli, co-author of “Network effects: Europe’s digital sovereignty in the Mediterranean”, describes the new perspectives for european digital power