David A. Andelman, visiting scholar at the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, wrote an op-ed for CNN about the recent global surge of right-wing victories.
Somehow, it all seems to be coming together at once.
Over the weekend, a Trumpian-style, right-wing politician surged into a runoff election for presidency of Brazil, only narrowly missing the 50% vote in the first round that would have meant instant victory.
In Germany, the neo-fascist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is poised to claim its first seats in Sunday’s regional elections for the Bavarian parliament, which would mean representation for the party in 15 of the 16 regional German parliaments.
In Italy, where unemployment is as high as 29% in some southern provinces, Matteo Salvini’s Five Star Movement is in a ruling coalition with the right-wing League.
And Salvini has now joined forces with France’s right-wing leader, Marine Le Pen, vowing to “storm the Brussels bunker” in next year’s European parliamentary elections.
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In Austria, the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) has joined forces to form a coalition government with conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
In neighboring Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the grandfather of the European right, won a third term in office on a platform proclaiming that European was being invaded by Middle East immigrants who must be stopped at any cost.
In Poland, efforts by right-wing, anti-immigrant Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to effectively shred his nation’s judicial system rose to the level of a condemnation by the European Parliament, which referred the matter to Europe’s highest court in Luxembourg.
Elsewhere, from Denmark to Slovenia to the Czech Republic, anti-immigrant feelings have swept the right to rapidly growing influence, if not outright rule.
None of these leaders, of course, would feel very out of place in Donald Trump’s America.