Far-Right Politics in European Security: The Case of Italy in the EU and NATO

The rise of far-right parties across Europe has raised concerns about the robustness of multilateral security mechanisms. While these parties are known for their nationalist, protectionist, and anti-cooperation stances, what they actually do in security organizations remains underexplored. Unlike initially believed, these parties do not bring about the end of cooperation but rather make a strategic use of their membership in security organizations. Taking the case of Italy, this paper explores far-right parties’ strategies on security cooperation in the Common Defence and Security Policy (CSDP) of the EU and NATO. I advance an argument about the variety of strategies of such parties by looking at the League’s coalition government in 2018-2019 and Meloni’s government from 2022 onwards. I argue that different far-right parties choose their strategies adapting to the varied opportunities and constraints provided by the organizational structures of security organizations. Consequently, far-right parties' dispositions to act vary across organizations demonstrating their distinct approaches to security and multilateralism. I illustrate my argument by drawing from party manifestos, news coverage, autobiographies, political speeches and texts, and with interviews with Italian MPs, bureaucrats from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence, and EU officials. The paper contributes to discussions about the nexus between multilateralism and anti-mainstream politics in Western European countries.