James Walston

James Patrick Francis Walston (28 July 1950 – 12 May 2014) was a British professor of international relations at The American University of Rome (AUR), specialising in Italian politics and modern history. He was chair of the AUR's Department of International Relations from 2002 to 2008. In 2008 he started the Center for Research on Racism in Italy together with Isabella Clough Marinaro. In 1997, he became the first non-Italian EU citizen to stand for election to Rome City Council.

Early life and education Walston was the youngest son of the Labour Party (and later SDP) peer Henry Walston, Baron Walston, and his wife Catherine. He later studied social and moral sciences as a postgraduate at the University of Rome, La Sapienza (Diploma di Perfezionamento, 1980), before returning to Cambridge to complete a PhD in political science, where he was supervised by Paul Ginsborg.

Journalism and comment Walston published regular articles in Wanted in Rome from 1989 until his death; he also wrote a regular column for Italy Daily (Italian supplement the IHT) from 1999 to 2002, for The Guardian and The Independent. His blog was Italian Politics with Walston.

Scholarly publications Walston was one of the first academics who wrote about fascist Italy's role in ethnic cleansing and the internment of elements of the civil population in Italian concentration camps, such as under Mario Roatta's watch in the Province of Ljubljana, that are in the Italian media subjected to the repression of historical memory, and to historical revisionism especially in relation to the post-war foibe massacres.

Organised crime 1986 "See Naples and die; organised crime in Campania" in Kelly Robert (ed.) Organized crime. A global perspective. Totowa NJ, Rowman & Littlefield: 134–158

Clientelism 1988 Mafia and Clientelism. Roads to Rome in Post-war Calabria. London, Routledge (revised Italian edition 1995 Le Strade per Roma. Clientelismo e politica in Calabria (1948–1992) Soveria Mannelli, Rubbettino (updated and revised translation of Mafia and clientelism)

Italian foreign policy 2004 "The Shift in Italy's Euro-Atlantic Policy. Partisan or Bipartisan?" The International Spectator XXXIX (2) October–December 115 – 125 2007 "Italian Foreign Policy in the 'Second Republic'. Changes of Form and Substance" Modern Italy Volume 12 (1) February 2008 "La politica estera: il difficile perseguimento di un ruolo influente" in Mark Donovan and Paolo Onofri (eds.) Politica in Italia. I fatti dell'anno e le interpretazioni. Bologna, Istituto Cattaneo/Il Mulino: 151–171 "Foreign Policy: The Difficult Pursuit of Influence" in Mark Donovan and Paolo Onofri (eds.) Italian Politics. Frustrated Aspirations for Change Bologna, Istituto Cattaneo/Il Mulino: 123–140 (English version of above).

Italian history 1997 "History and memory of the Italian concentration camps", Historical Journal 40 (1) 169–183. 2000 "Nationalisms and internationalism: the response of Italian Jews to Fascism" in Thomas P. DiNapoli The Italian Jewish Experience. Forum Italicum. A Journal of Italian Studies. SUNY, Stony Brook: 141 – 154 2010 "Italy’s 'second generations': the sons and daughters of migrants" in Bulletin of Italian Politics 2 (1) Summer 2010 (with Isabella Clough Marinaro).