Framed into the broader conceptual debate that addresses the controversialrole of human rights in the foreign policies of states, this bookaims to critically investigate whether, how and to what extent humanrights matter in the definition of Italy’s external action. The focus of thisstudy, which considers a period ranging from the end of the Cold Warto the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, is placed on the whole ‘humanrights component’ of foreign policy, which is intended as the combinationof three dimensions that are part of the same policy effort butcan analytically be distinguished among them: ‘institutional dialogue’;‘multilateral initiative’ and ‘bilateral emphasis’. This book investigatesthe consistency of this whole foreign policy component between thecontent and scope of the human rights discourse of Italian foreign policy-makers domestically and internationally and the actual efforts putin place by the country to advance the global human rights agenda, itsinstitutions and procedures in both multilateral and bilateral settings.