If you are interested in Italian defense you should look at this paper, which provides an updated overview of the literature on Italian military missions abroad. The paper is titled: “From enthusiasm to retreat: Italy and military missions abroad after the Cold War” (by Fabrizio Coticchia and Francesco N. Moro), Italian Political Science, 15(1) 2020.

Here below the abstract:

Italy represents an important case of defense policy change after the Cold War. While during the bipo-lar era the country rarely intervened abroad and was deeply constrained in its defense policy by do-mestic as well as international factors, in the post-Cold War era, Italy has constantly intervened in major conflicts in the Balkans, the Middle East and Afghanistan. Yet, in the past decade, and especial-ly after the 2011 Libyan intervention, Italian activism has consistently diminished. The purpose of this article is to describe this trend and to review theories that have been put forward to explain Italian activism (and retrenchment). While several insights can emerge from multiple studies dedicated to the topic, we argue that some elements such as legacies and institutional constraints have been some-what overlooked and actually open promising avenues for research.

You can download the paper here