diplomacy was in phase with the worldwide left–right convergence
that took place at the turn of the century.
Faced with the limitations of past policies, the left and the UN
became more aware of the importance of markets, economic growth,
and performance. Confronted with their own failures and with the
criticisms articulated by the South, by civil society organizations, and
by dissenting experts, the right and the Bretton Woods institutions, for
their part, were prepared to accept that the state had a role to play,
and integrated poverty and equity concerns into their policies. From
this two-sided process emerged a common language giving pride of
place to the notions of effectiveness and partnership. The new devel-
opment consensus, however, remained a fragile outcome of power
relationships, and it did not erase the fundamental differences between
the global left and the global right.
Still the left and the right
In the first round of the French presidential election, in April 2002,
Lionel Jospin’s “plural left” coalition splintered into its various
components and many dissatisfied voters abstained, allowing the head
of the far-right National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, to end up with
more votes than the socialist leader and to qualify for the second
round against center-right candidate Jacques Chirac. Around Europe,
wrote an Italian newspaper, political circles were “hit by a thun-
derbolt.”^79 The event, however, was not without precedent. In 2000,
the far-right party of Joerg Haider had been included in an Austrian
coalition government, creating quite a stir in the European Union. A
year before, the Italian left had been defeated by the center-right
coalition of Silvio Berlusconi, which also included far-right elements.
A month after the French shock, the Dutch far-right, whose leader –
Pim Fortuyn – was assassinated during the electoral campaign,
obtained spectacular results, and helped bring about the victory of a
center-right coalition. Even Denmark and Norway had turned to the
right in the previous months.
bulletin49-50/bulletin49-50-01.htm); Branislav Gosovic, “Global Intellectual
Hegemony and the International Development Agenda,”International Social
Science Journal, vol. 52, no. 166, December 2000, 447–56.(^79) Barnaby Mason, “The Rise of the European Right,” BBC News, World Edition,
April 22, 2002 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1944157.stm).
Twenty-first-century rapprochement 187