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Marco Siddi

@marcosiddi.bsky.social

120 followers 47 following 24 posts

Leading researcher @fiia-upi.bsky.social, Associate professor at Cagliari University and Docent at Helsinki and Tampere universities focusing on International Relations, European politics and energy politics

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Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

🤓 From 'middle power' to subordinate ally?
My new article on the descending trajectory of Italy's foreign policy and influence under Giorgia Meloni

📓 This is part of a forthcoming special issue edited by Profs Emidio Diodato and Raffaele Marchetti, with many other interesting contributions

PSA Italian Politics @psa-italian.bsky.social · Sep 5

New publication by @marcosiddi.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

From middle power to subordinate ally? Meloni’s foreign policy in the aftermath of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war

Italy has been described as a ‘middle power’ in international politics. While middlepowerness is an ambiguous term, in Italian self-conceptions it refers to a middle-ranking power with limited reso...

www.tandfonline.com

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Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 25d

@verfassungsblog.de

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 25d

...Now out as a book: “Owning the Past: The Omnipresence of Divergent Historical Narratives in Law and Politics”, edited by brilliant scholars Angelika Nussberger & Paula Rhein-Fischer, with my chapter 'The Politics of Forgetting and Foreign Policy'.
Free access at verfassungsblog.de/wp-content/u...

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

An interview with @financialtimes.com from some months ago on the global green subsidy race, still relevant..

www.ft.com/content/852a...

Global green subsidy race draws investor attention

Europe, the US and China are vying to be the most attractive destination for investment in sustainability

www.ft.com

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

- Yet very few of the structural issues affecting the country (lack of innovation, poor demographics, plight of major industrial sectors like the automotive) have been addressed in the 2020s.

👉 If interested, 50 free downloads are available here www.tandfonline.com/eprint/38XGD...

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

- Within the EU, Italy may sometimes look like 'it is doing sort of ok' in comparative terms, due to the political infighting or sustained economic/structural issues in other member states, including larger ones such as France and Germany.

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

- Meloni's subservience to Trump has not shielded Italy from tariffs and other unfriendly measures. Contrary to some Western observers, it appears that Trump understands that Meloni is a minor player, and there is no particular reason why he should discuss issues with her or make concessions to her.

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

- with very limited funds and no sustained foreign policy backing, Meloni's Mattei Plan for Africa amounts to a few projects and a lot of domestic talk;

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

- Meloni's persistent alignment with Israel and inaction before its criminal war in Gaza has weakened the Mediterranean vector of Italy's middlepowerness, particularly relations with the Arab world - and this is compounded by the anti-Islam and anti-migration stances of her government;

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Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

- due to the West's simultaneous confrontation with an aggressive Russia and pressure to derisk/decouple from China, Italy has lost or is losing two economically significant non-Western vectors of its middlepowerness;

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

- in the EU, the Meloni government was relegated to a marginal role in 'top job' appointments in 2024; it is living off the huge allocation of RRF funds obtained by earlier governments, but they will end in 2026;

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Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

I make several arguments in the article, including:

- due to protracted domestic stagnation and political choices, Italy has lost independent room for manoeuvre and influence, both within the Western alliance and in the international arena more broadly;

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · 29d

PSA Italian Politics @psa-italian.bsky.social · Sep 5

New publication by @marcosiddi.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

From middle power to subordinate ally? Meloni’s foreign policy in the aftermath of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian war

www.tandfonline.com

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Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Aug 26

...Environmentally better and probably more effective militarily than building a fence...
www.ft.com/content/f36d...

How to keep Putin out of Europe: refill the swamp

The ‘peatland pope’ hopes investing in bogs will block the Russian army and stave off climate change

www.ft.com

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Aug 26

As I argued recently (link.springer.com/article/10.1...), national nuclear industries need state aid in order to survive domestically, let alone compete in the international market. But does it make sense for the EU to invest in nuclear while renewables are cheaper, more decentralised and resilient?

Alice Hancock @alicemhancock.bsky.social · Aug 26

The Korean nuclear industry is accusing EDF of being in contravention of state aid rules — after EDF accused Korea’s state nuclear company KHNP of the same thing.

In Europe Express with @iancjohnston.bsky.social

on.ft.com/45AwjxG

French and Korean nuclear groups in stand-off over foreign subsidy probe

[FREE TO READ] Also in this newsletter: German minister travels to Israel and Palestine after deadly air strike

on.ft.com

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Aug 26

With my comments on Meloni's foreign policy strategy (or lack thereof), as well as her inability to persuade Trump or reap benefits for Italy from her supposed preferential relationship with the US president

@fiia.fi

Suomen Kuvalehti @suomenkuvalehti.fi · Aug 23

Giorgia Melonin ongelma: Miten olla samaa mieltä sekä Euroopan unionin että Donald Trumpin kanssa?

suomenkuvalehti.fi

Reposted by Marco Siddi

Manuel Müller @manuelmueller.foederalist.eu · Jul 29

OUT NOW: Luca Pantaleo and @marcosiddi.bsky.social have edited a great volume on the rule of law crisis and #DemocraticBacksliding in Europe, to which I have contributed a chapter on the rise and normalisation of the far right at EU level.

Have a look, it's open access! 👇

The rule of law crisis and democratic backsliding in the EU

www.giappichelli.it

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Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Jun 18

Excellent (if very hot) 2 days in Milan last week at the conference of the Italian Standing Group on International Relations, co-organised with the SG Russia & Post-Soviet Space that I co-chair with Alessandra Russo and Nicolò Fasola

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Jun 7

Good piece by Adam Tooze on European rearmament

on.ft.com/3ZI7TPx

The emperor has no tanks

Europe doesn’t need more spending to transform its moribund armed forces — it needs more co-operation across borders

on.ft.com

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Jun 6

Occasionally, some semblance of an independent European stance appears, at least in rhetoric. But even if we take Macron seriously (there is much evidence to suggest otherwise), the other leader of the Franco-German motor offers a sad spectacle by kowtowing to Trump today

www.ft.com/content/291e...

Emmanuel Macron calls for European and Asian ‘coalition’ during US-China tension

French leader says grouping could help shield international order rather than choosing sides among superpowers

www.ft.com

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Jun 6

I was interviewed for a good article on the energy transition in Europe and its challenges by excellent journalists writing for Climate Home News

www.climatechangenews.com/2025/05/16/e...

Europe’s lithium rush leaves mineral-rich communities in the dark

Some local residents say they haven't been adequately consulted before the rollout of Europe's lithium plans and fear for their incomes

www.climatechangenews.com

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Jun 6

New Polish president Karol Nawrocki has been (co-)responsible for the country’s awful memory politics for years. I encountered his name and profile while researching the subversion of the then new Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk in 2018-9
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

The national agents of transnational memory and their limits: the case of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk

This article examines the drivers and limiting factors of the transnationalisation of Second World War memory by focusing on the recently opened Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk. The creato...

www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by Marco Siddi

IR thinker @irthinker.com · May 15

European Energy Politics - Marco Siddi | 2023 Episode 37

What drives the EU’s energy politics?

Dr Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social unpacks the geopolitics of energy and the fallout of the Ukraine war on energy relations.

#EnergyGeopolitics #GreenTransition #EUGreenDeal

youtu.be/qrjzWol5D7E

European Energy Politics - Marco Siddi | 2023 Episode 37

YouTube video by IR thinker

youtu.be

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Reposted by Marco Siddi

GreenDeal-NET @greendealnet.eu · Mar 5

🔎 How can we ensure a fair energy transition?

Policymakers back the shift to low-carbon energy, but ensuring fairness remains complex. This Working Paper compares how the EGD and the US IRA approach energy justice—focusing on procedural, recognition-based, and distributional fairness

Read it here👇

Energy justice through policy: A comparison of US and EU approaches | GreenDeal-NET

Explore the FIIA Working Paper comparing US and EU energy policies, focusing on how each incorporates elements of energy justice into their green transitions.

www.greendealnet.eu

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Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Apr 13

Glad to host Rainer Quitzow and Luana Ladu from Forschungsinstitut für Nachhaltigkeit (RIFS) and @tuberlin.bsky.social in my courses at Cagliari University on 16 April

Marco Siddi @marcosiddi.bsky.social · Mar 27

Join us at the next webinar of the ECPR Research Network on Energy Politics, Policy, and Governance!

We will host Marja Helena Sivonen from the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) @syke.fi

📅 Friday, April 4th, 2025
⏲️ 12.00 (GMT) / 13.00 (CET)
▶️ Info & Registration: ecpr.eu/Events/296