Dr. Bottega, Silvia

Silvia Bottega holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations (Summa cum Laude) from the University of Perugia and a Master’s Degree from the same University focussed on Foreign Policy and International System (Summa cum Laude).

During her Master studies, she interned with the Italian Embassy in the Philippines, where she had the opportunity to deepen her understanding of the humanitarian impact of the low-intensity conflict (LIC) on the vulnerable and displaced people, especially women, developing a study then included in her Master’s thesis titled The Crimes against Women and the “New Wars” (ita). She received a PhD in Strategic Sciences (Distinction) from the University of Turin carrying out a multi-disciplinary research project titled “Diplomacy of Captivity” and Prisoners of War: from the Ancient Age to the Current Challenges (ita), published by Aracne Ed., Rome.

She also travelled in Israel and Palestine, developing a parallel but PhD-linked study on the issue of Palestinians’ human rights violations (especially those of prisoners) versus the Israeli counter-terrorism policies and security concerns. During her stay in the area she volunteered with UNRWA in the West Bank and attended the International Conference on Counter-Terrorism in Herzlya. The result of her experiences and activities were presented as a monograph.

Since 2012 Silvia is a co-editor of Warning-Biannual Journal of International Studies. She contributed in researching and assisting the activities linked to CISP (Centro Studi per la Pace), especially on a Project aiming at analyse the transformation of conflicts, actors’ identities and their “rules”. Her publications include: The Symbolic Role of Hostages, in Di Giovanni, Gaza, Procacci (a cura di),The Rules of the Battle, Perugia: Morlacchi, 2013 (ita); Hostages: Emblems of Conflictuality, in Coralluzzo, V. (a cura di), Paths of War, Perugia: Margiacchi, 2013 (ita).

During her doctoral studies Silvia also attended many courses and summer schools focussing on Humanitarian Emergencies and Development Cooperation, Civil-Military Cooperation (including the NATO concept) and Post Conflict Rebuilding Management - among others - so as to collect data on the different actors linked and factors affecting the three main war-related scenarios: the armed conflict, the humanitarian crisis and the post-conflict environment. More in detail, Silvia is interested in evaluating the possibilities for the civil and military actors to intersect their “responsibility to protect” and the need to respond effectively to the threats.