Assessing the Security Environment in Italy Using the Security Policy Descriptor Matrix

Abstract

To get a snapshot of the security environment of a country, one can describe and evaluate either the most common or  the most dangerous events and processes it encounters. Doing so from time to time helps to get an idea about  security dynamics, or even make assumptions or  predictions. Whichever one prefers, this analysis is one of the keys to the understanding of the country’s foreign and security policy. In this paper, I try and identify the most serious or common security challenges Italy is facing in its security environment, by using the levels and security  sectors of Buzan’s (extending them with IT security).  Challenges like the Covid–19 pandemic, its economic  effects, demography trends, low levels of vaccination, or  cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure are among the most urging challenges. By contrast, currently there is no reason to be too much worried about political and military security on national and individual levels. On the field of economic security, Italy faces decade-long challenges on these levels that are not imminent existential threats to Italy, but are worth mentioning.