The seminar will explore European states’ responses to international terrorist organizations, particularly focusing on Italy, during the Cold War period. The Six-Day War of 1967 marked a pivotal shift in the strategic approach of the Palestinian movement. In the aftermath of the conflict, the Fedayeen expanded their operations beyond the traditional Arab-Israeli theater, with Europe emerging as a new operational zone and civilians becoming increasingly targeted. A key turning point occurred in July 1968 when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) initiated the era of “publicity terrorism” by hijacking an El Al flight from Athens to Cairo, establishing Europe (and Italy, in particular) as a significant battleground for international terrorism. While the scale of these attacks remained relatively low, their symbolic and political impact was profound.
Lomellini, who has conducted extensive research across over 20 archives, contends that certain European states, including Italy, engaged in negotiations with Middle Eastern organizations, specifically Fatah and the PFLP. According to the author, these negotiations resulted in an agreement that ensured the inviolability of Italian territory in exchange for lenient treatment of Palestinian terrorists apprehended in Italy. The agreement, as the author argues, was subsequently extended to various “rogue states” that supported international terrorism, transforming terrorism into a tool of international relations.
In this context, Lomellini introduces the concept of “pre-emptive negotiation” to analyze and explain why and how Italy has historically been inclined to negotiate with terrorists in response to perceived threats. Through a historical analysis, the author offers a model that could be applied to other European countries.
Venue: Arts Lecture Theatre
Time: 17.00-18.30
Speaker
Valentine Lomellini (Ph.D in Political Systems and Institutional Change) is Associate Professor in the History of International Relations. She is Affiliate Professor at Georgetown University in Washington.
She is Scientific Coordinator of the Spring School IPSe – International Politics and Security, based on a network of nineteen foreign universities (from Georgetown University to Stanford) and has been Vice-President of the Master’s Degree Course in European and Global Studies.
Prof. Lomellini has been Visiting Professor at Wien Universität, Université de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne – pôle ‘Défense et sécurité européennes’ du Centre de recherche des écoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan (CREC Saint-Cyr), Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Visiting Scholar at the University of Sorbonne, Affiliated Researcher of the Centrum voor Parlementaire Geschiedenis of the Radboud Universiteit, member of the European project COwaSO (Cold War and Society) of the Institut für Zeitgeschichte (Wien Universität), and Affiliated Researcher of the European Protest Movement Network (Heidelberg Universität).
For her studies, she was awarded the Medal of the President of the Republic and the Simone Veil Prize of the Fundación Europea de Yuste.
She is the author of more than seventy scientific publications in international volumes and journals including ‘Journal of Contemporary History’, ‘Journal of Modern Italian Studies’, ‘Journal of European Integration History’, ‘Zeitgeschichte’, ‘Studi storici’, ‘Ricerche di storia politica’, ‘Ventunesimo secolo’.