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The Reform UK leader depicts his Reform UK party as a unique occurrence that has burst on to the world stage, its rapid ascent an exceptional epochal event. 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-immigrant, anti-globalisation parties similar to his are also ahead in the public surveys.

In last Saturday’s Czech elections, the rightwing, pro-Russian leader Andrej Babiš overthrew the head of government Petr Fiala. A French political group, which has just brought down yet another French prime minister, is leading the polls for both the French presidency and the legislature. In the German nation, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is currently the most popular party. Hungary’s Fidesz party, Robert Fico’s pro-Russian Slovakian coalition and the Brothers of Italy are already in government, while the Freedom party of Austria (FPÖ), the Netherlands’ Freedom party (PVV) and Belgian Vlaams Belang – all staunch nationalist groups – are part of an global alliance of anti-internationalists, inspired by right-wing influencers like Steve Bannon, aiming to dethrone the global legal order, weaken fundamental freedoms and destroy multilateral cooperation.

The Populist Nationalist Surge

The populist nationalist surge exposes a recent undeniable reality that democrats overlook at great risk: an nationalist ideology – once thought defeated with the Berlin Wall – has supplanted economic liberalism as the leading belief system of our age, giving us a world of firsts: “America first”, “India first”, “Chinese emphasis”, “Russia first”, “my tribe first” 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 ethnic nationalism is the driver behind the violations of international human rights law not just by one nation in conflict but in almost every one of the world’s 59 cross-border conflicts and civil wars.

Understanding the Underlying Forces

Crucial to grasp the underlying forces, widespread globally, that have driven this recent nationalist era. It begins with a broadly shared perception that a globalization that was accessible yet exclusionary has been a unregulated system that has not been fair to all.

For more than a decade, political figures have not only been slow to respond to the millions who feel excluded and marginalized, but also to the shifting dynamics of world economic influence, moving us from a unipolar world once dominated by the United States to a multipolar world of competing superpowers, and from a system of international law to a power-based one. The nationalist ideology that this has incited means free trade is being replaced by protectionism. Where market forces used to drive politics, the nationalist agendas is now driving economic decisions, and already over a hundred nations are running mercantilist policies marked out by reshoring and friend-shoring and by restrictions on international commerce, foreign funding and technology transfer, lowering international cooperation to its weakest point since the post-war period.

Hope in Global Public Sentiment

However, there is hope. The situation is not fixed, and even as it solidifies we can find hope in the pragmatism of the global public. In a poll conducted for a prominent organization, of 36,000 people in dozens of nations we find a significant portion are more resistant to an exclusionary nationalism and more inclined to embrace international cooperation than many of the officials who govern them.

Globally there is, maybe unexpectedly, only a limited number of staunch global cooperation opponents representing a minority of the world's people (even if 25% in today’s US) who either feel peaceful living between ethnic and religious groups is unattainable or have a zero-sum mindset that if they or their nation 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 committed internationalists, who either still see international collaboration through free commerce as a mutually beneficial arrangement, or are what an influential thinker calls “locally engaged global citizens”.

The Global Majority's Stance

Most people of the global public are moderate in views: not narrow, inward-looking nationalists, as “America first” ideology would suggest, or all-in cosmopolitans. They are devoted to their country but don’t see the world as in a never-ending struggle between the “our side” and the “others”, opponents always divided from each other in an unbridgeable divide.

Are most moderates prefer a obligation-light or a dutiful world? Are they prepared to accept obligations beyond their garden gate or city wall? Affirmative, under certain conditions. A initial segment, 22%, will back humanitarian action to relieve suffering and are prepared to act out of altruism, backing disaster relief for disaster zones. Those we might call “charitable” cooperation advocates empathize of others and have faith in something bigger than themselves.

Another segment comprising a similar percentage are pragmatic multilateralists who want to know that any public funds for international development are spent well. And there is a final category, roughly a fifth, self-interested multilateralists, who will endorse teamwork if they can see that it advantages them and their local areas, whether it be through ensuring them basic necessities or safety and stability.

Building a Cooperative Majority

Thus a clear majority can be constructed not just for humanitarian aid if money is well spent but also for international measures to deal with global problems, like climate crisis and pandemic prevention, as long as this argument is argued on grounds of wise personal benefit, and if we emphasize the mutual advantages 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 necessity for collaboration, the answer is each.

And this openness to cooperate across borders shows how we can turn back the xenophobic tide: we can defeat today’s negative, inward-looking and often aggressive and authoritarian patriotic extremism that demonises immigrants, outsiders and “others” as long as we champion a optimistic, globally engaged and welcoming national pride that addresses people’s desire to belong and resonates with their immediate concerns.

Addressing Public Concerns

Although detailed surveys tell us that across the west, unauthorized entry 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 immediate neighborhoods. Last month, the UK Prime Minister gave an emotional speech about how what’s good about Britain can overcome what’s bad, doing so precisely because in most developed nations, “broken” and “deteriorating” are the words people have for years most commonly cited when asked about both our economy and community.

But as the prime minister also pointed out, the far right is more interested in using complaints than ending them. Nigel Farage praised a disastrous mini-budget as “the best Conservative budget” since 1986. But he would also enact a similar plan – what was intended – the largest reductions in government programs. Reform’s plan to cut government expenditure by a huge sum would not repair struggling areas but ravage them, create social division and wreck any sense of unity. Under a hard-right regime, you will not be able to afford to be ill, impaired, needy or at-risk. Continually from now on, and in every constituency, Reform should be asked which medical facility, which educational institution and which public service will be the first to be cut or shut down.

The Stakes and the Alternative

“Faragism” is neoliberalism at its most cruel, more harmful even than monetarism, and spiteful far beyond fiscal restraint. What the people are indicating all over the west is that they want their leaders to restore our financial systems and our communities. “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 presenting a argument for a improved nation that appeals not just to idealists, but to pragmatists, to personal benefit, and to the daily kindness of the British people.