Head, ECFR Rome
Senior Policy Fellow
Geopolitics and International Relations; MENA Region; Libya; EU-MENA relations; Italian-Libyan relations; Italian foreign policy
Italian, English, basic French
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.
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
Italy can play an active role in shaping European defence policy – if it avoids getting distracted by its internal political tribulations
What are the first challenges Draghi will face in his country and in Brussels?
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
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
What will a Biden administration herald for Europe? The heads of ECFR’s seven offices report on the mood in the capitals
Experts from ECFR’s national offices address the tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over gas reserves
Europe must improve its early warning systems, supply chain resilience, medical R&D, and cyber security and technology, to act decisively in future emergencies
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…
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 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
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
Europe must improve its early warning systems, supply chain resilience, medical R&D, and cyber security and technology, to act decisively in future emergencies
The prospect of a Brothers of Italy-led government is causing worry in capitals across Europe. But the party is having to devise a foreign policy approach within the bounds of Europeanism and transatlanticism.
Draghi always knew that he could not depend on some members of his ruling coalition. Yet his legacy of leadership in the EU could survive his departure.
Almost all EU member states are exposed to the fallout for the energy market of Western sanctions on Russia. To protect their energy security and support the green transition, they should form a new energy union.
Defence industrial cooperation between Italy and Germany could boost the EU’s geopolitical credibility and capacity for technological innovation. There is no strategic autonomy without a strong defence industry.
The conflict in Ukraine will change Europe forever. Experts from across ECFR’s network of offices describe the view of the war from Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Sofia, and Warsaw.
With Mario Draghi staying on as prime minister, Italy has an opportunity to help lead an economic and political recovery from the pandemic that secures Europe’s future
Migration is first and foremost a structural problem, yet the EU persists in responding to it as an emergency. Now is the time to change course.
Italy can play an active role in shaping European defence policy – if it avoids getting distracted by its internal political tribulations
What will a Biden administration herald for Europe? The heads of ECFR’s seven offices report on the mood in the capitals
Experts from ECFR’s national offices address the tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over gas reserves
Mark Leonard and his guests discuss the implications of the new government in Rome and its foreign policy agenda, including Russia and China
How sustainable is European unity? And what scenarios of solidarity or division can be expected in the next few months?
What are the first challenges Draghi will face in his country and in Brussels?
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…
The ECFR Rome office organized a virtual gathering, moderated by the Head of ECFR Rome Arturo Varvelli, to present the ECFR publication “A Gulf…
Recently declared a global pandemic, it is undeniable that the coronavirus will be a global political, social, financial and economic crisis – requiring actions that…
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…
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
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
The Italians recognise there won’t be elections for a while and want to work with Dbeibah in the meantime, while also betting on the NOC, a guarantor of stability alongside Libya’s central bank
Arturo Varvelli’s comment on the Italian strategy towards Libya
The accession of Ukraine to the EU would benefit both parties
Arturo Varvelli comments on a possible Ukraine’s accession to the EU
As a matter of fact, the Italian government believes that the NOC president is able to overcome the turmoil in Libya
Arturo Varvelli comments on the gas agreement between ENI and NOC
The new government has realized that the Libyan crisis is an endemic one
Arturo Varvelli comments on the visit of Prime Minister Meloni to Libya
The only solution is a stabilization of Libya. It is neither easy nor immediate, but it is the only solution that can yield results.
Arturo Varvelli comments on the control of migration flows along the Central Mediterranean route
