Project data

The PRIN Italian Cold War Borders. A New Research Framework on Transformation during Détente involves four Italian universities (Siena, Bolzano, Trieste, and Udine) and a group of eleven scholars engaged in this two-year research project, which is part of the PRIN (Projects of Relevant National Interest) programme. The aim is to analyse how the period of Détente shaped Italy’s border regions, with the goal of developing a new, comprehensive research framework for the multi-level history of these areas in the context of the Cold War. The project integrates different perspectives within a coherent research framework. The four units focus on distinct geographical areas and historical approaches: the South Tyrolean/Alto Adige border between Italy and Austria, analysed from the perspective of international relations and the agreements defining the status of the German-speaking population in an ethnically mixed area (University of Bolzano); the north-eastern Italian border between Italy and Yugoslavia, investigated through a social and cultural history lens to assess the presence and perception of the Slovene minority in the regional context (University of Trieste); the impact of the military presence in Friuli, on the edge of the “Iron Curtain,” examined from a social and economic history perspective (University of Udine); and the formation of maritime borders in the Strait of Sicily and their progressive securitisation, approached from a military and diplomatic history standpoint (University of Siena).

 

Project website: https://coldwarborders.unisi.it/

 

Disclaimer: The project is funded by Italian Ministry of University and Research under the PRIN program – Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) – PRIN 2022 – PROGETTO PRIN 2022 N. 2022X7M7XN