Rileggere A. James Gregor dalla prospettiva della teoria delle Relazioni Internazionali

The article affirms that the seminal works by A. James Gregor on the Italian fascism, though generally neglected by International Relations scholars, are of great interest for the IR theory. Gregor argues that Italy, as a late comer in the international arena and as a late develping nation, has experienced a condition of extreme geopolitical vulnerability and national humiliation which has profoundly affected her domestic politics (the rise of an iliberal brand of nationalism, committed to rapid industrial development) and her foreign policy alike (the search for a "place in the sun"). By doing so, Gregor not only reminds IR scholars of the importance of the "second image reversed" (P. Gourevitch), i.e. the relevance of the international sources of domestic politics. He also highlights the specific geopolitical and psychological factors which tend to play a prominent role in the domestic and foreign policy of the late developing countries, especially the ones born of decolonization, of which Italy may be regarded, in some respects, as a forerunner and a paradigmatic case. By virtue of the notion of "generic fascism", finally, Gregor offers some useful hints to the scholars interested in the understanding of the political conducts, in the post-Cold War era, of such important countries as Russia and China.