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April 05, 2005

Defeat for One More "Coalition of the Willing" Leader

Okay, Berlusconi hasn't been driven from national office yet, but this defeat of Italy's ruling coalition in regional elections is so crushing that it seems likely that Italy will soon join Spain as a country where alliance with George Bush leads to a leader's political defeat.

There are obviously internal issues involved in Italy but a look around the world shows a global shift away from conservative governments towards the center-left, from the rise of more progressive governments throughout Latin America, the return of Congress in India, and, now, Spain and Italy in Europe. France is the notable exception, yet Chirac's government opposed Bush's war and has continued the odd French Gaullic tradition of state-oriented conservatism.

In this sense, Bush has been a notably less successful global conservative leader than Reagan, who helped lead an ideological revival of conservatism around the world. Bush, on the other hand, seems to be helping to feed a progressive reaction against conservatism in many parts of the world.

Posted by Nathan at April 5, 2005 08:34 PM