Reti mediterranee, o dell'ambiguità

This essay is the geo-economic part of the 2005 Yearly Report of the Italian Geographic Society "Italy in the Mediterranean." The first part is devoted to outline the characteristics of the Mediterranean region in economic terms,in terms of the North / South disparities and of the general peripherality of the Basin. In addition to population flows between the shores, are then analyzed the trade flows between the Mediterranean countries, the EU and Italy. This highlights the marginal role of the countries of southern and eastern shores of the basin in the EU trade (just as important for Italy) and, on the contrary, the strong role of the market share held by Italy in the international trade of the Mediterranean countries, that is a factor of considerable importance in geopolitical terms. Then it is presented the import/export of Italy by region, highlighting the different regional attitudes toward the east or the south of the basin Finally we describe the trends of capital flows in the Mediterranean. In conclusion we consider in strategic terms,the attitude of Italy to hold more market share in the Mediterranean Basin and the possible benefits coming from more advanced cooperation policies.