This proposal presents the preliminary findings of my postdoctoral research, which investigates the institutional adaptation and lesson-learning processes within the Italian military, focusing on Italy’s participation in European Union-led missions. By analyzing variables such as troop size, financial commitments, mission mandates, and the civil-military nature of operations, the project examines how Italy’s strategic culture and defense policies have evolved through its engagement in EU frameworks. The methodology combines a detailed analysis of foundational EU and Italian documents (e.g., white papers, multiannual strategic plans, and EU strategic frameworks) with interviews conducted with key political and military stakeholders, primarily in Rome.
The preliminary findings highlight Italy’s active involvement in EU missions, driven by its commitment to multilateralism, humanitarian values, and peacebuilding within a European context. Despite its significant role in such operations, gaps remain in academic reflection on the lessons learned and their integration into strategic planning. This study identifies critical mechanisms influencing institutional adaptation, including alignment with EU norms, domestic political factors, and the evolving role of civil-military cooperation. By focusing exclusively on EU-led initiatives, this research provides a focused framework to understand the dynamics shaping Italy’s defense policy and offers insights into how middle powers adapt to challenges within the European security architecture.

The conference paper represents a comparative study, which is focused on the role of the EU as a crisis management actor via the CSDP missions deployed in the eastern neighbourhood, more specifically in Georgia and Moldova. Theoretically it is based on the premises of historical institutionalism. We work with the concepts of path dependence, critical juncture and with the typology of institutional change according to the explanation of Kathleen Thelen and James Mahoney (layering; conversion; drift; displacement; exhaustion).

In our research the EU CSDP missions represent institutions-agents tasked with particular mandates by the actors-principles to address external challenges. The EU´s engagement via CSDP civilian missions in Georgia and Moldova started long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine which changed the security situation in post-soviet area. After 2022 both countries gained the status of EU candidate countries, although both processes exhibited significant differences. The types of the institutional changes in cases of the EU CSDP missions after February 2022 have also shown dissimilarities: In Moldova the EU deployed a new civilian mission (EUPM) in 2023, with territorially limited mandate, but with new tasks especially in the area of fight against hybrid threats. On the other hand, in Georgia neither radical changes in the EUMM mission mandate, nor the plans for the deployment of a new CSDP mission has occurred.

We argue that in order to address the differences in the institutional change we must take into account the factors which influence its type and motivations of the EU actors for change. They include the political context and the nature of the institutions themselves. When the research focuses on the CSDP policy area, its institutions and missions as particular instruments-agents, special attention must be devoted to the internal political situation in the hosting country (Georgia, Moldova) and to the role of the external (competing) actors in the region.

The main aims of the paper are: 1) To assess the institutional change in the EU´s engagement as the crisis management actor in Georgia and Moldova, before and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine; 2) To discuss the factors that influence the type of institutional change in both cases.

The methods of data gathering and analysis combine the textual analysis of relevant documents (e.g. the mandates of particular CSDP missions and their amendments) and interviews with experts and insiders.