The Observatory on the activities of International and Supranational, Universal and Regional Organizations, on topics of interest to Italian foreign policy is an initiative of SIOI aimed at promoting the dissemination to a wide audience of some priority research themes relevant both to the activities of international organizations and to Italian foreign policy.
The activity in question is carried out in collaboration with research groups, with a significant composition of young researchers, from the following universities and research institutions:
• University of Teramo;
• University of Bari A. Moro;
• National Research Council, CNR Naples;
• Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade;
• Permanent Seminar on International Studies-SSIP, Naples;
• University of Bologna;
• University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”;
• LUISS Guido Carli University of Rome;
• University of Messina;
• University of Naples Parthenope;
• University of Salento;
• University of Salerno;
• University of Sannio;
• University of Turin;
• University of Trento;
• University of Udine.
International organizations are an indispensable tool for promoting international cooperation among states to achieve and satisfy common goals and needs. Their articulation into universal – generally open to all states – and regional – with the participation of states belonging to continental or sub-continental areas – allows for understanding and deepening the entire spectrum of political, economic, social, humanitarian, and other issues of interest to the international community. In this way, their activities constitute an essential support tool for research and indispensable analysis of the international reality.
SIOI, established also to promote scientific research and deepen knowledge in the field of international organization, has consistently promoted studies and the dissemination of information on the activities of international organizations through its quarterly journal “La Comunità Internazionale”. Building on this experience and considering the need to ensure to the widest possible audience and in faster times than allowed by a quarterly print periodical, SIOI has devised the project related to the online Observatory on the activities of international organizations.
The Observatory aims to provide dissemination of information on the activities of the international entities under analysis, especially regarding the priority themes of Italian foreign policy. Taking this into account, below are provided some indications, the most relevant ones, on the international organizations and the topics of interest that will be the subject of analysis within the Observatory.
The international organizations, both universal and regional, to which particular attention is devoted are as follows:
– UN and organizations of the United Nations system;
– European Union;
– Council of Europe;
– NATO;
– African Union;
– Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS);
– Organization of American States (OAS);
– Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN);
– Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO);
– International Organization for Migration (IOM);
– Arab League.
Additionally, the Observatory also pays particular attention to soft forms of institutionalized international cooperation such as the Group of 20 (G20) and the Group of 7 (G7).
As for thematic priorities, currently the Observatory deals, among others, with:
– The crisis of multilateralism and the UN system, in the face of the predominance of mini-lateralism, regionalism, and multipolarism;
– The promotion and protection of Human Rights, also in light of the developments in ICT and the gap between geographic areas, generations, and genders;
– The development of the integration process within the European Union and the necessary institutional reforms to revitalize its international political role;
– The role of NATO in the context of transatlantic relations and the evolution of internal balances within the alliance, due to the repercussions of some international conflicts, particularly the Russo-Ukrainian conflict;
– The activities of regional and sub-regional organizations concerning security issues in different crisis areas (expanded Mediterranean, Africa, Latin America, Central Asia, Caucasus).
