Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s ambassador to the European Union, was having some fun this week at the expense of western countries as he mused about the impact of the financial crisis on world capitalism. “I’ve noticed an upsurge of interest in theoretical works by certain authors of the past, such as Karl Marx,” he said. “A German publishing house has just reprinted 2m copies of ‘Das Kapital’.”
Whether or not ’Das Kapital’ has anything useful to say about today’s turmoil, there is no doubt that the crisis is producing a shift in the European intellectual climate against classical free market liberalism and in favour of state interventionism and economic nationalism. The political and cultural soil for this shift was already rather fertile in France, Germany and Italy, though less so in young democracies such as the Czech Republic and Poland.
But if this is so, then why are political parties of the left in such poor shape across much of Europe? It’s the worst financial crisis since the early 1930s, the worst economic recession since the early 1990s, if not the 1970s – and where is the left?
In France, it is mired in internal disputes between Ségolène Royal and her enemies – disputes that seem incredibly petty, given the scale of the crisis in the world outside. President Nicolas Sarkozy’s popularity ratings, which crashed after his over-publicised romance with Carla Bruni, are going up.
In Germany, the Social Democrats are only just emerging from a miserable phase in which they were led by Kurt Beck, one of the least effective leaders in their post-1945 history. They do not look in great shape to displace Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats as Germany’s biggest party in next year’s federal elections. A poll this week gave the Social Democrats only 23 per cent, against 37 per cent for the Christian Democrats and their Bavarian allies.
In Italy, the centre-left opposition led by Walter Veltroni almost disappeared from public sight after losing this year’s election to Silvio Berlusconi. He is riding high on a programme of sorting out problems at Alitalia, Italy’s dysfunctional national airline, and cracking down on criminals and immigrants from outside western Europe.
It would be a rash person who predicted that the Labour party will hold on to power after the next UK election, even though Gordon Brown is recovering in the polls thanks to his recent performance during the financial crisis.
In short, the European left appears bereft of ideas and incapable of inspiring voters at a time when economic conditions ought to be working strongly in its favour.
After Barack Obama’s presidential election victory in the US last week, many commentators noted how difficult it was to imagine a black politician achieving a similar triumph in Europe. But I would ask another question. Where in Europe is the politician who will match Obama by raising the banner of modern centre-left values and winning an election?
Across the globe: Gideon Rachman and his FT colleagues debate international affairs on