The differences
between reformed left and new right in both parts of the continent have
blurred to the point of indistinguishability. French socialists have
privatized more than their conservative predecessors. The Tories still
complain bitterly that Tony Blair, with his nondescript "Third Way",
has stolen their thunder.
Nor are the "left" and "right" ideologically monolithic and socially
homogeneous continental movements. The central European left is more
preoccupied with a social - dare I say socialist - agenda than any of
its Western coreligionists. Equally, the central European right is less
individualistic, libertarian, religious, and conservative than any of
its Western parallels - and much more nationalistic and xenophobic. It
sometimes echoes the far right in Western Europe - rather than the
center-right, mainstream, middle-class orientated parties in power.
Moreover, the right's victories in Western Europe - in Spain, Denmark,
the Netherlands, Italy - are not without a few important exceptions -
notably Britain and, perhaps, come September, Germany. Nor is the
left's clean sweep of the central European electoral slate either
complete or irreversible. With the exception of the outgoing Czech
government, not one party in this volatile region has ever remained in
power for more than one term.
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