The Blair Government and the Afghan Terrorist Crisis

This paper focuses on New Labour’s first two mandates. It argues that the Government’s continued popularity which was confirmed at the polls in the 2001 General Election, is largely the product of exceptional circumstances which contrast favourably with the experience of former Labour governments : the Conservative opposition is in disarray, the performance of the economy is on the whole satisfactory and New Labour has been spared potentially damaging social conflicts. It is however possible to argue that the foundations of the New Labour settlement are more unstable than immediately apparent. The Government’s hope to export the successes of the Blair revolution on the world stage in a bid to achieve international recognition might eventually expose the fault lines which lie at the heart of New Labour.