COULD THE “MATTEI PLAN” BE REINVENTED FOR AFRICA? A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
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The current Italian government has relaunched Italy's foreign policy towards the Mediterranean and Africa, and the so-called ‘Mattei Plan’ is part of this trend. The main objective of this essay is to historically explore and reflect on the original meaning of the ‘Mattei Plan’ and the evolution of ENI's role since the 1950s in the scenario of Italian foreign policy towards the Mediterranean and the African continent. Can history help us assess the Italian government's path today towards a new Mattei Plan? Is it convincing - from a historical point of view - to reinvent the ‘Mattei Plan’ in a profoundly changed historical, geopolitical and cultural scenario? The article is divided into two parts. The first part explores the role of Enrico Mattei and the original meaning of the ‘Mattei Plan’ in the 1950s and 1960s, in the Italy of the ‘economic miracle’ and ‘neo-Atlanticism’ and in the international scenario of the Cold War and decolonisation. The second part analyses the current significance of the ‘Mattei Plan’ in Italian foreign policy towards the Mediterranean and Africa, with a focus on energy, security and geopolitics.
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