Washington's cold war diplomacy in Italy in the 1970s

This article examines Washington's cold war diplomacy in Italy as a case study of policy making. Italy caused concerns to US leaders throughout the cold war because of its strong and dynamic communist party (PCI). Worries became even more acute in the 1970s after the PCI spelled out its 'historic compromise' strategy whose objective was to propel the communists into cabinet positions within a broad coalition government. How did the White House, Foggy Bottom, the Rome embassy, the CIA and Congress view such a development and who got the final word? How strong were domestic factors? This paper tries to analyze the differences in opinions and their influence in policy making. Keywords American foreign policy * Italy * Cold War * 1970s * Eurocommunism * PCI * Historic compromise * Ford administration * Henry Kissinger * Carter administration * Zbigniew Brzezinski * CIA * State Department * Congress * Policymaking NATO
When one refers to American diplomacy, one actually refers to a very complex reality. Sometimes, it was difficult to figure out what Washington wanted for there were differences in positions [...]