“A two-level game? The determinants of the Italian military intervention in Libya: strategic culture, international norms and domestic dynamics”

I've recently presented the paper: “A two-level game? The determinants of the Italian military intervention in Libya: strategic culture, international norms and domestic dynamics” (with M.Ceccorulli) at the SGRI VII Annual Conference, Trento, 26-28 June 2014.

Here below the abstract
This paper considers Italy and the military operation in Libya (2011), which is a paradigmatic case regarding the growing interaction of new security challenges: region instability, transnational organized crime, and illegal immigration. The aim of this work is to answer a series of questions: why has Italy employed the military instrument to face transnational and non-military threats? What balance between values and interests pushes Italy to employ its armed forces? What influence does decision-makers’ strategic culture exert on the decision to intervene? To what extent are 'organizational factors' to be taken into account to understand national activism? Through process tracing, content and discourse analysis, the paper looks at the political debate over the decision-making process in the case of the operation Unified Protector undertaken by NATO in Libya, proposing and evaluating three possible determinants for decisions: strategic culture, international norms and domestic dynamics.