Regional Security in the Wider Mediterranean Area: The Role of the Italian Navy

摘要

The sea hosts many opportunities for serious security, economic and ecological outcomes. The Mediterranean sea is crossed by main international water routes -just think about the trade traffic that every day transits through the Suez Channel, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles - and this geographical peculiarity makes it a highly strategic area, not only for those countries which border it but also for the countries not belonging to the same basin, but using its maritime lines of communication and transport. The Wider Mediterranean area1 is a particularly fertile breeding ground for terrorism, as it is affected by geopolitical uncertainties and instabilities, economical and social disparities, and demographic and migratory problems. At the same time, the security and economy of the littoral Mediterranean countries are strictly dependent on the Wider Mediterranean's ecological stability and navigational security.