Italy is preparing to fill a historical gap in its institutional architecture. With the recent Dpcm of April 22, 2026, the government has outlined the path for drafting the first National Security Strategy (NSS). An analysis by researchers Gabriele Natalizia, Lorenzo Termine, and Laura Donnini for Geopolitica.info highlights how this step is not just bureaucratic but represents a potential geopolitical turning point for the country.
The New Command Architecture
The decree establishes a clear hierarchy for managing the document, centralizing political and operational direction:
- Cisr (Interministerial Committee for the Security of the Republic): Will be responsible for formulating proposals and overseeing the implementation of the strategy.
- Dis (Department of Information for Security): Will handle the operational and preparatory phase through a dedicated technical committee.
According to experts, the stability of the current executive offers a "favorable political window" to overcome the historical resistance of individual state apparatuses, finally allowing for an integrated vision that includes defense, intelligence, and diplomacy.
The 4 Risks to Monitor
Despite the optimism for the initiative, researchers identify four critical issues that could weaken the document, turning it into a missed opportunity:
- Excessive "Hybrid Focus": The risk is focusing exclusively on internal and hybrid threats, losing sight of the return of muscular and conventional competition among major global powers.
- Strategic Vagueness: A text that is too generic, written to please all ministries, would be useless for guiding concrete choices in times of crisis.
- Institutional Fragmentation: Without permanent coordination, the strategy risks remaining a literary exercise without real impact on the economy and defense.
- Lack of System Vision: Modern security involves the economy and academia; limited involvement of these sectors would be an insurmountable structural limitation.
A Multidimensional Security
Today, security is no longer a monolithic concept tied exclusively to physical borders, but is articulated in a series of interconnected domains requiring specific strategies.
Firstly, digital and cyber security focuses on protecting critical infrastructures, such as power grids and banking systems, as well as safeguarding data. In parallel, the need for cognitive security emerges, aimed at defending the informational space of citizens from disinformation threats and psychological manipulations.
On the front of primary resources, food and water security aims to ensure the resilience of supply chains, preventing social crises related to the shortage of essential goods. Alongside this is health security, which elevates public health to a true strategic asset to respond promptly to pandemics or biological threats.
Finally, environmental security addresses climate change not only as an ecological challenge but as a "threat multiplier" capable of destabilizing the entire territorial and economic framework of the nation.
A Compass for the Future
The future National Security Strategy must not only be a "well-written" document but a true guidance tool.
"The real issue is not just the existence of the strategy, but its practical effectiveness. It must clearly indicate which interests Italy intends to defend and which partnerships to prioritize."
If implemented correctly, the NSS will become the framework within which the National Military Strategy and foreign economic policies will operate, ensuring Italy a more coherent and solid voice on the international stage.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first!