Promoted by the Italian Intelligence System, “A Thesis for National Security” is an initiative dedicated to university students, who graduated presenting dissertations on intelligence-related topics.
The fifth edition (2021-2022) offered 10 prizes worth €2,500 each for the best master thesis, rated no less than 105/110, on the following topics: geopolitics and international relations; threats to national security; law, doctrine and history of intelligence; economic and financial security.
The Award has seen a constant increase in the number of applications over the years. With the participation of graduates from 50 Italian universities, the last edition confirms the value of the relationship between intelligence and academia to promote a shared culture of security.
On 20th October 2023, the awards ceremony of the fifth edition was held at the headquarters of the Italian Intelligence System, in the presence of Alfredo Mantovano, the Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Delegated Authority for the Security of the Republic, and the Directors of the Italian Intelligence Community.
Selected by an internal Committee, the winners are:
Giulia del Re – University of Naples ‘Federico II’ – “ERROR 403: old and new categories applicable to cyber warfare”
Davide Fortin – Ca’ Foscari University of Venice – “Europe in the Sahel: an analysis of the European counterterrorism structure between past and present to understand its action”
Lucia Frigo – University of Trento – “Post-Brexit European Security: the future of EU intelligence sharing, sanctions and defence-industrial cooperation with the United Kingdom”
Martina Gambacorta – Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna – “The Strategy of Contemporary Anarchists: an analysis of the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI/IRF)”
Alessandro Imperia – University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ – “Golden Powers between State and Market. An interdisciplinary and comparative journey between Italy and the USA in search of new perspectives (and tools) of public and private law’
Martina Messa – Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan – “Geopolitics of the energy transition: the consequences of remodelling the energy system on conflicts for resources in the Wider Mediterranean”
Beatrice Olivieri – LUISS Guido Carli of Rome – “Safeguarding national security interests: an overview of global screening procedures on foreign direct investment”
Edoardo Pellegrini – University of Trento-Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa – “Technical Standardization as a tool for international powers to build their technological and geopolitical position: the China case”
Flavio Saia – University of Palermo – “The financing of terrorism: an empirical analysis of emerging patterns and modi operandi”
Luca Taiana – University of Milan – “People’s Republic of China, international infiltration patterns and strategies”
The sixth edition of the Award will be published shortly on the Italian Intelligence website www.sicurezzanazionale.gov.it.