Federica Saini Fasanotti

Federica Saini Fasanotti is a military historian and specialist in counterinsurgency. Her fieldwork and research have covered, among others, Afghanistan, Libya, Ethiopia and Somalia, and her latest book is “La Forma della Guerra” (“The Shape of the War”) (Historical Office of the General Staff, Italian Ministry of Defense, 2022).

She is an expert on the role of the military in African colonies. She received her doctorate from the University of Milan. As a trained nurse, Dr. Saini Fasanotti’s dissertation focused on the controversial relationship between fascism and the Italian Red Cross. Following her studies, she moved to Rome, where she worked actively with the Central Historical Office of the Italian Army and the Historical Office of the Italian Ministry of Defense.

For seven years (2016-2023) she was a nonresident fellow in the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at The Brookings Institution. She has also been a guest lecturer at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and a frequent speaker at military history conferences and congresses.

Her essays and articles have been published in many historical and geopolitical journals. She developed the series “The History of Fascism” (2006) for Rai-National Italian Television, as well as “The Second World War” (2009), distributed by Il Corriere della Sera, the leading Italian newspaper.

Dr. Saini Fasanotti’s books include: “Violated Joy: Crimes against Italians 1940-1946” (Ares Editore, 2006); “Ethiopia 1936-1940: Colonial Counterinsurgency through the Sources of the Italian Army” (Historical Office of the Italian Army, 2010); “Libya 1922-1931: The Italian Counterinsurgency” (Historical Office of the Italian Army, 2012); “Military History of Afghanistan: From Durrani’s Empire to Resolute Support Mission” (Mursia Editore, 2014), “Vincere! The Italian Royal Army’s Counterinsurgency Operations in Africa, 1922-1940” (Naval Institute Press, 2020).

She has consulted on Libya for the Terna Group, the first grid operator for electricity transmission in Europe. She has also collaborated with the Pentagon.