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The Reform UK leader depicts his political party as a unique phenomenon that has burst on to the world stage, its meteoric rise an exceptional historic moment. But this week, in every one of Europe’s leading countries and from the Indian subcontinent and Thailand to the United States and South America, far-right, anti-immigration, anti-globalization parties similar to his are also leading in the public surveys.

During recent Czech voting, the rightwing, pro-Russian leader Andrej Babiš toppled the head of government Petr Fiala. A French political group, which has just forced the resignation of yet another France's leader, is leading the polls for both the presidential race and the legislature. In the German nation, the right-wing AfD party is currently the most popular party. A Hungarian political force, Robert Fico’s pro-Russian Slovakian coalition and the Brothers of Italy 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 global alliance of opponents of global cooperation, motivated by right-wing influencers like Steve Bannon, seeking to dethrone the international rule of law, diminish fundamental freedoms and destroy international collaboration.

Rise of Populist Nationalism

This nationalist wave exposes a recent undeniable reality that democrats ignore at great risk: an authoritarian ethnic nationalism – once thought toppled with the Berlin Wall – has replaced economic liberalism as the leading belief system of our age, giving us a world of firsts: “US priority”, “India first”, “China first”, “Russian primacy”, “group priority” and often “exclusive group focus” regimes. It is this nationalist sentiment 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 breaches of global human rights standards not just by one nation in conflict but in almost every instance of global strife.

Root Causes Explained

Crucial to grasp the root causes, common to almost every country, that have fuelled this recent nationalist era. It begins with a widely felt sense that a globalisation that was open but not inclusive has been a free for all that has been unjust to all.

For more than a decade, leaders have not only been slow to respond to the many people who feel left out and left behind, but also to the shifting dynamics of global economic power, moving us from a US-dominated era once dominated by the United States to a multipolar world of competing superpowers, and from a rules-based order to a might-makes-right approach. The nationalist ideology that this has provoked means open commerce is being replaced by protectionism. Where market forces 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 reshoring and friend-shoring and by restrictions on international commerce, foreign funding and knowledge sharing, lowering global collaboration to its weakest point since the post-war period.

Hope in Global Public Sentiment

But all is not lost. The situation is not fixed, and even as it hardens we can see optimism in the pragmatism of the global public. In a poll conducted for a major foundation, of 36,000 people in 34 countries we find a significant portion are less receptive to an divisive nationalist agenda and more willing to support global teamwork than many of the officials who govern them.

Globally there is, maybe unexpectedly, only a small group of hardened anti-internationalists representing a minority of the global population (even if a quarter in the United States currently) who either feel coexistence between diverse communities is impossible 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 opposite extreme, whom we might call committed internationalists, who either still see cooperation across borders through open trade as a positive sum win-win, or are what an influential thinker calls “rooted cosmopolitans”.

The Global Majority's Stance

The vast majority of the world's citizens are somewhere in between: not isolated patriots, as “America first” ideology would suggest, or all-in cosmopolitans. They are patriotic but don’t see the world as in a never-ending struggle between the “us” and the “them”, adversaries always divided from each other in an irreconcilable gap.

Are most moderates prefer a duty-free or a dutiful world? Are they prepared to accept responsibilities beyond their garden gate or community boundaries? Affirmative, under certain conditions. A initial segment, 22%, will support aid efforts to relieve suffering and are prepared to act out of selflessness, backing disaster relief for affected areas. Those we might call “good cause” cooperation advocates feel the pain of others and have faith in something bigger than themselves.

Another segment comprising a similar percentage are practical cooperators who want to know that any taxes paid for international development are used effectively. And there is a third group, 21%, self-interested multilateralists, who will endorse cooperation if they can see that it benefits them and their local areas, whether it be through ensuring them food on the table or safety and stability.

Building a Cooperative Majority

So a clear majority can be built not just for emergency assistance 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 argument is presented on grounds of wise personal benefit, and if we stress the reciprocal benefits that benefit them and their own country. And thus for those who have long wondered whether we work together from necessity or if we have a need to cooperate, the response is each.

And this openness to work internationally shows how we can reverse the xenophobic tide: we can defeat current pessimistic, inward-looking and often aggressive and authoritarian nationalism that vilifies newcomers, foreigners and “different groups” as long as we advocate for a optimistic, globally engaged and welcoming patriotism that responds to people’s desire to belong and resonates with their everyday worries.

Tackling Key Issues

Although in-depth polls tell us that across the Western nations, illegal immigration is currently the biggest national issue – and it's clear that it must promptly be managed effectively – the public sentiment data also tell us that the people are even more concerned about what is happening in their personal circumstances and within their own local communities. Recently, the UK Prime Minister spoke movingly about how what’s positive in the nation can overcome what’s bad, doing so precisely because in most western countries, “broken” and “in decline” are the words people have for years most commonly cited when asked about both our financial system and society.

However, as the prime minister also pointed out, the far right is more interested in exploiting grievances than ending them. Nigel Farage hailed a disastrous mini-budget as “an excellent fiscal policy” since 1986. But he would also implement a similar plan – what was planned – the largest reductions in public services. The party's proposal to cut government expenditure by a huge sum would not repair struggling areas but damage them, create social division and wreck any spirit of solidarity. Under a far-right government, you will not be able to afford to be sick, disabled, poor or at-risk. Continually from now on, and in every constituency, the party should be asked which hospital, which educational institution and which public service will be the first to be reduced or shut down.

Risks and Solutions

“This ideology” is neoliberalism at its most cruel, more destructive even than monetary policy, and vindictive far beyond austerity. What the people are indicating all over the Western world is that they want their governments to rebuild our economies and our civic societies. “Reform” and its global allies should be revealed repeatedly for plans that would harm 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 better Britain that appeals not just to visionaries, but to realists, to personal benefit, and to the daily kindness of the British people.