The current escalation between the United States, Israel, and Iran is not simply another regional crisis. It is a geopolitical turning point that could reshape the Middle East, global energy markets, and migration patterns across Europe. At moments like this, every country must ask a serious question: what is our national interest?
For Italy, the answer cannot be ideological. It must be grounded in geography, history, and economic reality.
Italy is not a global military power. It is a Mediterranean nation whose stability depends on secure trade routes, reliable energy supplies, and regional balance. Every crisis in the Persian Gulf immediately affects Italian industry, households, and the wider European economy. Rising energy prices, disruptions in shipping lanes, and political instability in the Middle East quickly become domestic problems in Europe.
This is why Italy’s foreign policy tradition has long emphasized dialogue and mediation. Italy is a committed NATO ally and a partner of the United States, but it also has a historic diplomatic vocation as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East. This is not ambiguity—it is realism rooted in national interest.
Between 2020 and 2021, I wrote a series of technical articles for the international broadcaster IRIB – Pars Today analyzing the Iranian Constitution.
That work was not political advocacy. At that time, the national interest of Italy and Europe was to maintain and develop channels of communication with Iran. After years of nuclear negotiations and attempts to normalize relations among Iran, Europe, and the United States, many believed that diplomatic engagement and economic cooperation could stabilize the region. Understanding Iran’s constitutional structure was part of understanding a country with which Europe hoped to expand lawful economic and institutional relations.
I was also president of an Italian-Iranian cultural and commercial association, now closed, that operated in that same framework of dialogue. For a lawyer working in immigration and asylum law, studying foreign legal systems is not ideology. It is professional necessity. Knowing how another country’s institutions function allows us to understand migration patterns, assess asylum claims responsibly, and distinguish between political narratives and legal reality.
Today, that technical experience is more relevant than ever. Understanding Iran’s institutional structure helps interpret its political decisions and reminds us of a basic truth: diplomacy begins with knowledge.
A wider war between Iran and the United States would directly affect Italy through energy markets, trade routes, and regional instability. It would also influence migration flows toward Europe. Anyone working daily in asylum and protection law knows how conflicts thousands of miles away quickly become domestic challenges. For Italy, therefore, neutrality in the correct sense does not mean moral indifference. It means pursuing de-escalation, keeping diplomatic channels open, and maintaining credibility as an interlocutor for all sides. Italy’s national interest lies in stability in the Mediterranean, not in becoming another front in a war it cannot control.
At the same time, global crises inevitably produce migration pressures. This makes it necessary for Italy to adopt a clear and coherent migration policy. In my research and public work I have proposed the paradigm “Integration or ReImmigrazione”, an Italian legal-policy framework requiring real integration through lawful work, language acquisition, and respect for the law, while those who do not integrate are assisted in returning to their country of origin within legal guarantees. The goal is to combine solidarity with social stability and legal certainty.
In an interconnected world, foreign policy and migration policy are linked. Conflicts in the Middle East affect Europe, and Europe’s response must be structured, lawful, and realistic.
For the United States, Italy remains a loyal ally. But allies contribute in different ways. Italy’s contribution has often been diplomacy, mediation, and cultural understanding. That role should not be underestimated. In times of escalation, bridges are as important as armies.
Italy should not become a battlefield. It should remain a bridge—because in the Mediterranean, peace is built through dialogue, knowledge, and realistic policies.
Avv. Fabio Loscerbo
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7030-0428
Registered lobbyist in the European Union Transparency Register – ID 280782895721-36
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