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The Reform UK leader depicts his political party as a unique occurrence that has burst on to the global stage, its meteoric rise an exceptional historic moment. However this week, in every one of Europe’s major countries and from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia to the United States and South America, hard-right, anti-immigrant, anti-globalization parties similar to his are also leading in the opinion polls.

In last Saturday’s Czech elections, the conservative, pro-Putin populist a prominent figure toppled the head of government Petr Fiala. A French political group, which has just forced the resignation of yet another French prime minister, is leading the polls for both the presidential race and parliament. In Germany, the right-wing AfD party is currently the most popular party. Hungary’s Fidesz party, Robert Fico’s pro-Russian Slovakian coalition and the Italian political group are already in power, while the Austrian FPÖ, the Netherlands’ Freedom party (PVV) and Belgium’s Vlaams Belang – all hardline nationalists – are part of an international coalition of opponents of global cooperation, inspired by right-wing influencers such as a well-known figure, aiming to dethrone the global legal order, weaken human rights and destroy multilateral cooperation.

The Populist Nationalist Surge

The populist nationalist surge exposes a new and unavoidable truth that democrats ignore at great risk: an authoritarian ethnic nationalism – once thought defeated with the Berlin Wall – has supplanted neoliberalism as the dominant ideology of our age, giving us a world of priorities: “US priority”, “India first”, “China first”, “Russian primacy”, “group priority” and often “exclusive group focus” regimes. It is this ethnic nationalism that helps explain why the world is now composed of many autocratic states and fewer democratic ones, and this ideology is the driver behind the violations of global human rights standards not just by Russia in Ukraine but in almost every instance of global strife.

Root Causes Explained

Crucial to understand the root causes, widespread globally, that have fuelled this new age of nationalism. It starts with a widely felt sense that a globalisation that was accessible yet exclusionary has been a free for all that has been unjust to all.

Over the past ten years, political figures have not only been delayed in addressing to the millions who feel excluded and left behind, but also to the changing balance of world economic influence, moving us from a US-dominated era once led by the United States to a multi-power landscape of rival major nations, and from a system of international law to a might-makes-right approach. The nationalist ideology that this has incited means open commerce is being replaced by trade barriers. Where economics used to drive government policies, the nationalist agendas is now driving financial choices, and already more than 100 countries are running mercantilist policies characterized by bringing production home and friend-shoring and by restrictions on international commerce, foreign funding and technology transfer, sinking global collaboration to its weakest point since 1945.

Hope in Global Public Sentiment

However, there is hope. The situation is not fixed, and even as it solidifies we can see optimism in the common sense of the global public. In a poll conducted for a prominent organization, of thousands of individuals in 34 countries we find a significant portion are more resistant to an exclusionary nationalism and more willing to embrace international cooperation than many of the leaders who rule over them.

Across the world there is, perhaps surprisingly, only a small group of staunch global cooperation opponents representing 16.5% of the global population (even if 25% in today’s US) who either feel peaceful living between ethnic and religious groups is unattainable or have a win-lose perspective that if they or their nation do well, it has to be at the expense of others doing badly.

But there are another 21% at the other end, whom we might call dedicated globalists, who either still see international collaboration through free commerce as a mutually beneficial arrangement, or are what an influential thinker calls “rooted cosmopolitans”.

The Global Majority's Stance

The vast majority of the world's citizens are moderate in views: not isolated patriots, as “US priority” ideology would suggest, or fully global citizens. They are devoted to their country but don’t see the world as in a never-ending struggle between the “our side” and the “them”, opponents permanently set apart from each other in an unbridgeable divide.

Do the majority in the middle favor a obligation-light or a dutiful world? Are they prepared to accept obligations beyond their local area or city wall? Affirmative, under specific circumstances. A initial segment, about a fifth, will back humanitarian action to alleviate hardship and are prepared to act out of selflessness, backing disaster relief for affected areas. Those we might call “charitable” multilateralists feel the pain of others and have faith in something larger than their own interests.

A second group comprising a similar percentage are practical cooperators who want to know that any public funds for global progress are spent well. And there is a third group, roughly a fifth, self-interested multilateralists, who will approve teamwork if they can see that it benefits them and their communities, whether it be through guaranteeing them food on the table or peace and security.

Forging a Collaborative Consensus

Thus a clear majority can be built not just for humanitarian aid if funds are used wisely but also for international measures to deal with worldwide issues, like environmental emergency and pandemic prevention, as long as this case is argued on grounds of enlightened self-interest, and if we emphasize the reciprocal benefits that benefit them and their own country. And thus for those who have long wondered whether we cooperate out of need or if we have a necessity for collaboration, the response is each.

This willingness to work internationally shows how we can turn back the xenophobic tide: we can overcome current pessimistic, inward-looking and often forceful and controlling nationalism that vilifies immigrants, outsiders and “different groups” as long as we champion a optimistic, outward-looking and welcoming national pride that addresses people’s need for community and resonates with their immediate concerns.

Addressing Public Concerns

Although in-depth polls tell us that across the west, unauthorized entry is currently the top concern – and it's clear that it must promptly be managed effectively – the snapshots of opinion also tell us that the public are even more concerned about what is happening in their personal circumstances and within their immediate neighborhoods. Recently, the UK Prime Minister gave an emotional speech about how what’s positive in the nation can overcome what’s negative, 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 leader also pointed out, the extreme right is more interested in exploiting grievances than ending them. Nigel Farage hailed a ill-fated economic plan as “the best Conservative budget” since the 1980s. But he would also implement a comparable strategy – what was planned – the biggest ever cuts in government programs. Reform’s plan to reduce public spending by a huge sum would not fix downtrodden communities but ravage them, turn citizen against citizen and destroy any sense of unity. Under a hard-right regime, you will not be able to afford to be sick, disabled, poor or at-risk. Continually from now on, and in every electoral district, Reform should be asked which hospital, which educational institution and which government service will be the first to be cut or shut down.

The Stakes and the Alternative

“Faragism” is economic theory at its most inhumane, more harmful even than monetarism, and spiteful far beyond fiscal restraint. What the people are telling us all over the west is that they want their leaders to restore our financial systems and our civic societies. “Reform” and its global allies should be exposed day after day for policies that would devastate both. And for those of us who believe our best days could be ahead of us, we can go beyond highlighting the party's contradictions by setting out a argument for a improved nation that resonates not just to visionaries, but to realists, to self-interest, and to the daily kindness of the British people.