The Invention of Alpen-Adria. Cross-Border Cooperation and Region-Building in Sensitive Border Areas (1960s-2010s)

Due to processes of nation building, communities living in the Alps-Adriatic region, i.e., across the borders of today’s Italy, Austria, and (ex) Yugoslavia, suffered disintegration and violence. During the Cold War central authorities controlled national borders and militarized the territory. A climate of suspicion persisted and transformed the border into a symbolic periphery of confrontation between “East” and “West” blocks. This paper analyses how border communities challenged this imaginary. Through cross-border cooperation, regional policymakers and other actors developed the idea of “Alpe-Adria” to depict the area as a transnational region where to cultivate friendship and peace. The laboratory of Alps-Adriatic cross-border practices, from the 1960s to today, stands up as a paradigmatic case to rethink the history of Cold War Europe from margins. By focusing on the interplay between bottom-up initiatives and interstate politics, my thesis engages with recent debates in border studies. Moreover, by providing an example of cross-border cooperation between the two blocs in the only juncture between Romance, Slavic and German populations, this paper connects Cold War studies and history of European integration, endorsing perspectives that illuminate the autonomy of borderlanders over nationalistic top-down politics.