Soft power e diplomazia parallela: le relazioni Italia-Stati Uniti tra primo dopoguerra, fascismo e comunità etniche

The article offers a historiographical reflection on relations between Italy and the United States during the interwar period, highlighting how studies on migrants, ethnic communities, and soft power strategies have shaped scholarly analysis since the 1960s. It shows how scholarship gradually moved beyond an initial diplomatic perspective to adopt a transnational approach that foregrounds networks, cultural institutions, political movements, and economic actors operating across the Atlantic. The article traces how historians have addressed key turning points – from U.S. immigration restrictions to the fascist reorganization of overseas institutions – and reconstructs major intellectual phases, from early diplomatic analyses to more recent research on consumption, race, gender, and business communities. It argues that parallel diplomacies and transnational networks were crucial in shaping political, cultural, and economic exchanges between the two countries.