The literature has devoted a growing attention to the role of political parties on foreign and security policy. Nonetheless, despite a rising interest on “populism” in Western Europe (and beyond), the foreign policy of populist parties has been rarely investigated. For instance, the electoral success of the Five Star Movement (M5S) has contributed to an emerging scholarly debate In Italy. However, the M5S views on crucial foreign policy issues such as EU integration, migration, and military operations, remain largely unexplored.
The paper aims at addressing such gap by studying the foreign and defense policy of the M5S in last legislature (2013-2018). Thanks to the empirical analysis of parliamentary debates, votes, electoral platforms, documents, and interviews with MPs, the manuscript investigates the ways through which the Five Star Movement have addressed vital issues, revealing recurring patters and assessing existing theories on parties and foreign policy.
