Mediterranean Transitions from the Gulf to the Sahel. The Role of Italy and the EU

The war on Gaza, the war on Ukraine, the energy crisis, and several initiatives to reshape regional and international partnerships and alliances have made the EU Southern Neighbourhood even more strategic for Italian and European interests. The urgency to diversify the energy supply (drawing on both fossil fuels and clean energy sources) has pushed Italy to strengthen old and create new partnerships with countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, as well as turn to countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This is aimed at both transforming Italy into an energy hub and becoming autonomous from Russia. A reflection on energy supply diversification and political reconfigurations necessarily considers the highly strategic Red Sea and Gulf regions, which are increasingly interconnected with the EU's Southern Neighbourhood in both political and economic terms, as acknowledged by the recent European energy strategy. The volume focuses on the most recent energy and political realignments in