Ph.D. Dissertation: “Between the Local and the National: the Free Territory of Trieste, "Italianità," and the Politics of Identity from the Second World War to the Osimo Treaty.”
My dissertation, “Between the Local and the National: The Free Territory of Trieste, ‘Italianità,’ and the Politics of Identity from the Second World War to the Osimo Treaty,” examines how political leaders, parties, and associations leveraged identity politics to assert Italian sovereignty over the contested Adriatic border and redefine the Italian identity or "Italianità"of Trieste. Tracing its evolution from nineteenth-century irredentism to Cold War dynamics, this dissertation highlights how shifting notions of nationhood and political strategies transformed Trieste's role from a barrier at the Iron Curtain to a bridge toward the Communist world.
By analyzing diverse primary sources, including archival materials from Italy and the United States, government records, newspaper articles, and oral interviews, this research sheds light on the complexities of nationalism, political violence, and the legacy of identity politics in Cold War Europe.
