Eugenio Lilli

On 4 June 2009, in Cairo, US President Barack Obama promised to set a new beginning in US-Muslim relations. This research wants to assess if after four years President Obama has delivered on his promise. To what extent has the Obama administration represented discontinuity in US foreign policy toward the Muslim world? My work investigates the two main components of US foreign policy -its rhetoric and its practice- and points out their respective traditional characteristics with regard to the US relations with the Muslim world. To provide some historical background of US-Muslim relations this research analyzes two specific historical examples: the 1953 overthrow of the Mossadeq government in Iran, and US support for the Afghan resistance against the Soviets in the 1980s. After that, President Obama's record is assessed in light of the US administration's response to a number of popular uprisings that upset the political landscape of the Middle East in 2011-2012. In particular, this research studies the uprisings in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen.

Laurea Specialistica (MA) “Economics and Politics of the European Integration”, graduated Magna cum Laude in February 2009. University of Bologna, Forlì Campus.

Scholarship award, University of Bologna, for a period of research abroad to complete the master thesis, November 2008.

Scholarship award, University of Bologna, to spend a year at the University of California, San Diego, USA, 2007-2008.

Laurea Triennale (BA) “Institutions, Economics and Politics of the European Union”, graduated Magna cum Laude in July 2006. University of Bologna, Forlì Campus.

Teaching Fellow for Punto Europa Forlì, part of the EuropeDirect Network, Forlì, Italy, 2006-2007.