expressed concern about the lack of accountability of anti-terrorist
agencies and the expanding role of the military in domestic politics.
Taking note of the increasing number of cases of racial profiling
involving Arabs and Muslims, progressives also deplored the fact that
the fight against terrorism has engendered xenophobic sentiments
contrary to democratic values.
Tony Blair, who struggled for years with his party’s left over the
war on terrorism, nicely summed up the left–right dimension of the
debate – with his own Third Way twist – in an article he published in
The Economistafter he announced his departure: “Here is where
I have always felt that the normal politics of left and right are a
hindrance. The trouble is that the right is correct on the need to stand
firm militarily and in support of freedom; and the left is correct on the
need for justice.”^38
The global environmental debate
The recent multiplication of extreme weather events and ongoing
debates about global warming have focused increasing attention on
the environment as a global governance issue. It is sometimes argued
that the environmental debate transcends traditional ideological di-
visions and that, in fact, a broad consensus has arisen in favor of
sustainable development. This view, however, is far from convincing.
Ever since the environment was put on the global agenda some four
decades ago, the left has attributed more importance to this issue
than the right. Robert Paehlke, one of those commentators who argue
that environmentalism “can be blended with almost any left or right
ideology,” nevertheless concedes that, at the end of the day, the envi-
ronmental movement “has most often been linked with the moderate
left.”^39
The progressive character of environmentalism is the outcome of
clear political choices. Most environmentalists consider the “lessening
[of] socio-economic inequalities [as a] central and long-standing
concern,” and they have come to the conclusion that “egalitarian
(^38) Tony Blair, “What I’ve Learned,”The Economist, May 31, 2007, 26–28.
(^39) Robert C. Paehlke,Environmentalism and the Future of Progressive Politics,
New Haven, Yale University Press, 1989, pp. 190 and 309.
210 Left and Right in Global Politics