In June 2025, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen met in Rome for a long-awaited meeting on synergies between Italy’s and Europe’s plans for international cooperation, the Mattei Plan and the Global Gateway, respectively.1 The meeting, together with the updated report to Parliament published in July,2 provided a clearer account of the projects launched, the financial commitment and the upcoming institutional steps.

‘An excellent, interdisciplinary Handbook produced “in the shadow” of Ukraine and Gaza, this volume places before us the challenges of building critical decolonial knowledge in the field of border cri...