It is looking like Silvio Berlusconi will remain in power in Italy, though election results are still too close to call. If Berlusconi wins, however, it will be an interesting extension of a trend I've been talking about for a few months now here on Say Anything.

Berlusconi has been a supporter of the war in Iraq. Italian troops are gone now, and he has had to soften his position on Iraq in the past, but he is and was a supporter none-the-less. If he remains in office it will be further evidence of a right-ward shift in international politics.

Here is a list, culled from my memory, of international leaders who have been elected (or re-elected as the case may be) within the last year or so:

• George W. Bush, the mastermind behind the invasion of Iraq.



• John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia and staunch supporter of the war in Iraq.



• Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada and member of that country's conservative party. Not sure of his view on the war in Iraq, but his election certainly marks a shift to the right from his predecessor's (Paul Martin) uber-liberal government and he is already in the process of warming what had become cool relations with America under Martin.



• Andrea Merkel, Chancellor of Germany. While she is no "right winger" she is certainly to the right of her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder, not to mention more friendly to America.



• Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Great Britain. Blair is no conservative in his politics, but his administration (at least from an American perspective) is marked by its close ties to America and the Bush administration, especially over the war in Iraq.

The election of every politician mentioned above marks a notable shift to the right in the leadership of the countries they represent. Add Berlusconi to the list and you can see my point. Obviously America's left/right nomenclature doesn't directly apply to the unique political landscape of each of the above named countries, but the I do believe that this trend is noteworthy.

Liberals here in America have told us over and over again that President Bush is making America "less popular" in the world. We are told that our foreign policies are making our country a "loaner" in the international community. Yet, since President Bush was elected it would seem as though those who make up the international political community have moved markedly to the right in their politics. Rather than voting in favor of distancing themselves from America and its policies it appears as though foreign citizens are consistently electing leaders who will move their respective countries closer to America.

Which, of course, totally flies in the face of everything we are told by the media/political left tells us about our country and its standing in the world.