Abstract

What is the position of Italian historians of international relations in the ongoing scholarly debate on world history, global history and international history? Are they at the margins or are they aware of the new research methodologies? The author addresses these questions reviewing the evolution of the discipline in Italy from the beginning, in the age of imperialism, to the present. He highlights how, without severing ties with the best tradition of Italian history of international relations, the discipline has been able to produce scientific works in the same vein of those of the French histoire des relations internationales, which was deeply affected by the teachings of the «Annales School», and of transnational history. Moreover, the recent foundation of the Società italiana di storia internazionale has encouraged an interdisciplinary dialogue with national and foreign scholars.