Seminar “The Greater Mediterranean, its History and its Present”
The Mediterranean has once again become the centre of the world’s geopolitical dynamics. From the Italian perspective, we speak of the Mediterranean and the ‘Greater Mediterranean’, which is a broader horizon converging more towards the ancient sea. Here the political aspects are complex and manifold: from Exclusive Economic Zones and the sustainable exploitation of marine resources to communications not only by sea but also by computer, the use of renewable resources, tourism as viewed on a Mediterranean-wide scale, the movement of people, war emergencies as well as national and international security issues.
Italy measures itself against all this from day to day. This is the norm for a country that lies at the heart of the Mediterranean. And behind the present lies a long history in which Italy has played a major role for centuries. A history in which special significance has been attached to Venice, the Venetian state and civilisation for centuries. In the history of the Mediterranean, Venice is indeed a key protagonist. It started out from a remote point in the Mediterranean space; it expanded and integrated into it, and then it dominated the eastern part of the sea with its navy and trade, representing a gateway between the Orient and Europe. Indeed, it is in Venice that the Greater Mediterranean finds its most remote link.
Setting out from these assumptions, it is worth questioning how much today’s reality is mirrored in the history of the Mediterranean and that of Venetian Italy. And to what extent these histories are reappearing in renewed forms in today’s geopolitical dynamics. These are questions that we shall attempt to answer in the seminar The Greater Mediterranean: its History and its Present, organised by the Institute for the History of the Venetian State and Society.
