Craxism

Although the PSI under Craxi was associated with typical centre-left stances such as third-worldism, pro-Arabism, environmentalism and a belief in the modern welfare state, it was also pro-Atlanticist and pro-europeanist, supported privatisation and liberalisation measures, and placed a strong emphasis on defending territorial sovereignty (e.g. the Sigonella crisis) and on promoting conservative policies relating to issues such as abortion and the war on drugs.

Thus, under Craxi the PSI moved from being on the left, close to the Italian Communist Party (Partito Comunista Italiano; PCI), to a position much nearer the centre.

Abroad, Craxi received fulsome praise from figures such as Mário Soares, Ricardo Lagos, Felipe González, Lech Walesa, Ronald Reagan, Sergio Romano (Italian Ambassador in the USA), Renato Ruggiero (Socialist diplomat and former Director of the WTO) and Boris Biancheri (writer and diplomat).

Together with fellow moderate socialist leaders such as Felipe González, François Mitterrand and Helmut Schmidt, Craxi moved socialism in a direction more favourable to liberal reformism and the market economy.

In addition, Craxism later inspired the overhaul and redeveloped policies of Tony Blair's Labour Party in Britain, the PSOE under José Zapatero, and Andreas Papandreou's PASOK in Greece.