The Janus Face of Italy’s Far Right

Abstract

When Giorgia Meloni, the leader of a party with fascist roots, was elected Italy’s prime minister, liberal alarm bells went off. Concerns soon evaporated, however, as Meloni continued Italy’s policy of support for Ukraine against Russia and refrained from picking fights with the European Union. Her adherence to what looked like a traditional centre-right foreign policy mystified observers across the Atlantic, who neglected her more troubling domestic policies. In liberal-minded and pro-EU quarters, the belief emerged that if Meloni showed that moderation could pay off electorally, other far-right parties could follow suit. However, Meloni’s foreign policy is arguably less the result of a genuine change of heart than of contingent factors such as a strongly Atlanticist US administration, Italy’s need for EU cash and a lack of competition for the leadership of Europe’s far right. All these conditions may vanish in the coming years, and if they do, Meloni may find that her experiment in moderation is not politically expedient after all.