The Reform UK leader depicts his political party as a unique occurrence that has burst on to the world stage, its rapid ascent an remarkable historic moment. However this week, in every one of the continent's leading countries and from the Indian subcontinent and Thailand to the US and South America, hard-right, anti-immigration, anti-globalisation parties like his are also ahead in the opinion polls.
During recent Czech voting, the rightwing, pro-Putin populist Andrej Babiš overthrew the head of government Petr Fiala. National Rally, which has just forced the resignation of yet another French prime minister, is leading the polls for both the presidential race and parliament. In the German nation, the right-wing AfD party is currently the leading party. Hungary’s Fidesz party, Slovakia's governing alliance and the Italian political group are already in government, while the Austrian FPÖ, the Dutch PVV and Belgian Vlaams Belang – all staunch nationalist groups – are part of an international coalition of opponents of global cooperation, inspired by right-wing influencers like Steve Bannon, seeking to dethrone the international rule of law, diminish human rights and destroy multilateral cooperation.
The populist nationalist surge reveals a recent undeniable reality that supporters of democracy ignore at great risk: an authoritarian ethnic nationalism – once thought defeated with the historic barrier – has replaced neoliberalism as the leading belief system of our age, giving us a world of firsts: “US priority”, “India first”, “China first”, “Russia first”, “my tribe first” and often “my tribe first and only” regimes. It is this nationalist sentiment that helps explain why the world is now composed of many autocratic states and fewer democratic ones, and ethnic nationalism is the driver behind the violations of international human rights law not just by Russia in Ukraine but in almost every one of the world’s 59 cross-border conflicts and civil wars.
It is important to understand the underlying forces, widespread globally, that have fuelled this recent nationalist era. It starts with a broadly shared perception that a globalization that was open but not inclusive has been a free for all that has been unjust to all.
For more than a decade, political figures have not only been slow to respond to the millions who feel excluded and left behind, but also to the shifting dynamics of world economic influence, transitioning from a unipolar world once led by the US to a multi-power landscape of competing superpowers, and from a system of international law to a power-based one. The nationalist ideology that this has provoked means free trade is being replaced by trade barriers. Where market forces used to drive politics, the nationalist agendas is now driving economic decisions, and already more than 100 countries are running protectionist strategies characterized by bringing production home and ally-focused trade and by restrictions on cross-border trade, foreign funding and knowledge sharing, sinking international cooperation to its lowest ebb since 1945.
However, there is hope. The cement is still wet, and even as it solidifies we can find hope in the pragmatism of the world's population. In a poll conducted for a major foundation, of thousands of individuals in 34 countries we find a clear majority are less receptive to an divisive nationalist agenda and more willing to support global teamwork than many of the leaders who govern them.
Globally there is, perhaps surprisingly, only a small group of hardened anti-internationalists representing a minority of the global population (even if 25% in the United States currently) who either feel peaceful living between ethnic and religious groups is unattainable or have a zero-sum mindset that if they or their country do well, it has to be at the cost of others doing badly.
However there are an additional group at the other end, whom we might call dedicated globalists, who either still see international collaboration through open trade as a mutually beneficial arrangement, or are what a prominent philosopher calls “rooted cosmopolitans”.
Most people of the world's citizens are moderate in views: not isolated patriots, as “US priority” ideology would suggest, or fully global citizens. They are patriotic but don’t see the world as in a never-ending struggle between the “us” and the “others”, opponents always divided from each other in an unbridgeable divide.
Do the majority in the middle favor a duty-free or a dutiful world? Are they willing to accept responsibilities beyond their garden gate or city wall? Yes, under specific circumstances. A first group, about a fifth, will support humanitarian action to alleviate hardship and are ready to act out of selflessness, supporting disaster relief for affected areas. Those we might call “charitable” multilateralists feel the pain of others and have faith in something bigger than themselves.
A second group comprising 22% are practical cooperators who want to know that any public funds for global progress are spent well. And there is a third group, 21%, personally motivated collaborators, who will endorse teamwork if they can see that it advantages them and their communities, whether it be through ensuring them basic necessities or peace and security.
So a clear majority can be built not just for humanitarian aid if money is well spent but also for global action to deal with worldwide issues, like environmental emergency and disease control, as long as this argument is argued on grounds of wise personal benefit, and if we emphasize the reciprocal benefits that benefit them and their own country. And thus for those who have long questioned whether we work together from necessity or if we have a need to cooperate, the response is each.
This willingness to cooperate across borders shows how we can reverse the xenophobic tide: we can overcome today’s negative, inward-looking and often forceful and controlling patriotic extremism that vilifies newcomers, foreigners and “others” as long as we advocate for a optimistic, globally engaged and welcoming patriotism that responds to people’s desire to belong and connects to their everyday worries.
And while detailed surveys tell us that across the west, illegal immigration is currently the top concern – and no one should doubt that it must promptly be brought under control – the snapshots of opinion also tell us that the public are even more concerned about what is happening in their own lives and within their own local communities. Recently, a prominent leader gave an emotional speech about how what’s good about Britain can drive out what’s bad, doing so precisely because in most developed nations, “dysfunctional” and “deteriorating” are the words people have for years most commonly cited when asked about both our financial system and society.
But as the prime minister also reminded us, the extreme right is more interested in exploiting grievances than ending them. Nigel Farage hailed a disastrous mini-budget as “the best Conservative budget” since 1986. But he would also enact a comparable strategy – what was planned – the largest reductions in government programs. The party's proposal to reduce public spending by £275bn would not fix struggling areas but damage them, turn citizen against citizen and destroy any spirit of solidarity. Under a far-right government, you will not be able to afford to be ill, impaired, needy or at-risk. Every day from now on, and in every constituency, Reform should be asked which medical facility, which school and which public service will be the first to be reduced or shut down.
“Faragism” is economic theory at its most inhumane, more harmful even than monetarism, and vindictive far beyond austerity. What the people are indicating all over the Western world is that they want their leaders to rebuild our economies and our civic societies. “Reform” and its global allies should be revealed day after day for policies that would devastate both. And for those of us who believe our greatest achievements could be in the future, we can go beyond highlighting the party's contradictions by setting out a argument for a better Britain that appeals not just to visionaries, but to pragmatists, to self-interest, and to the daily kindness of the British people.
An avid hiker and nature photographer with a passion for exploring the Italian Alps and sharing travel insights.
News