“non self-governing” territories, mostly small islands.^91 It may be too
soon, however, to conclude, as did Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere
in 1990, that colonialism has become “almost a thing of the past.”^92
Indeed, the legacy of colonialism still lives within nation-states, in the
unequal and difficult relationships between indigenous and non-native
peoples.^93 This question, however, would come to light later in time.
It is a story for another chapter.
Conclusion
As they defined their contending visions, the political forces of the left
and of the right constructed the modern world together. They fought
over the meaning of democracy, disagreed on the necessity of war and
on the possibility of peace, debated the respective merits of capitalism
and socialism, and diverged in their interpretations of colonization and
decolonization. The right preferred hierarchy and order to equality
and participation, and it looked favorably at peace through force, to
capitalism andlaissez-faire, and to the colonial enterprise. The left
demanded a more inclusive democratic politics, opposed war and
military interventions in most circumstances, and advocated various
stripes of socialism. It also appeared more critical toward imperialism
and more supportive of decolonization.
At times, this divide took violent, indeed extreme forms. Hitler was
on the right, Stalin on the left. In many instances, however, the conflict
between the left and the right was expressed in the language of
democratic politics, through debates, popular actions, and electoral
mobilizations. When this happened, the two sides often influenced
one another to generate a new consensus. This was the case with the
right to vote, with the creation of international organizations to sus-
tain peace, with the development of social democracy as a com-
promise betweenlaissez-faireand socialism, and with decolonization.
Yet in due course every new consensus would give rise to different
lines of opposition, consistent with the broader politics of equality
delineated by the left and the right.
(^91) United Nations, “The United Nations and Decolonization: History”
92 (www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/history.htm).
93 Julius Nyerere, quoted in Emmerij, Jolly and Weiss,Ahead of the Curve?, p. 25.
Alan C. Cairns,Citizens Plus: Aboriginal Peoples and the Canadian State,
Vancouver, UBC Press, 2000, pp. 19–46.
106 Left and Right in Global Politics