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Nigel Farage portrays his Reform UK party as a distinct phenomenon that has exploded on to the global stage, its rapid ascent an exceptional historic moment. However this week, in every one of the continent's major countries and from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia to the US and South America, hard-right, anti-immigrant, anti-globalization parties similar to his are also ahead in the opinion polls.

During recent Czech voting, the conservative, pro-Putin populist a prominent figure toppled the head of government Petr Fiala. National Rally, which has just forced the resignation of yet another French prime minister, is ahead the polls for both the French presidency and parliament. In the German nation, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is currently the most popular party. A Hungarian political force, Slovakia's governing alliance and the Brothers of Italy are already in government, while the Austrian FPÖ, the Netherlands’ Freedom party (PVV) and Belgian Vlaams Belang – all staunch nationalist groups – are part of an international coalition of opponents of global cooperation, inspired by far-right propagandists like Steve Bannon, aiming to dethrone the global legal order, weaken human rights and destroy international collaboration.

Rise of Populist Nationalism

The populist nationalist surge reveals a new and unavoidable truth that democrats ignore at great risk: an nationalist ideology – once thought defeated with the historic barrier – has replaced economic liberalism as the leading belief system of our age, giving us a world of firsts: “America first”, “India first”, “Chinese emphasis”, “Russian primacy”, “group priority” and often “my tribe first and only” regimes. It is this ethnic nationalism that helps explain why the world is now composed of 91 autocracies and only 88 democracies, and this ideology is the force behind the violations of global human rights standards not just by one nation in conflict but in almost every one of the world’s 59 cross-border conflicts and civil wars.

Root Causes Explained

It is important to understand the underlying forces, widespread globally, that have fuelled this recent nationalist era. It begins with a widely felt sense that a globalisation that was accessible yet exclusionary has been a free for all that has not been fair to all.

For more than a decade, leaders have not only been slow to respond to the many people who feel excluded and left behind, but also to the changing balance of global economic power, moving us from a unipolar world once led by the US to a multipolar world of rival major nations, and from a system of international law to a power-based one. The nationalist ideology that this has incited means open commerce is being replaced by protectionism. Where economics 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 friend-shoring and by restrictions on international commerce, investment and knowledge sharing, sinking international cooperation to its lowest ebb since 1945.

Optimism in Public Opinion

But all is not lost. The situation is not fixed, and even as it hardens we can see optimism in the common sense of the world's population. In a recent survey for a prominent organization, of thousands of individuals 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.

Across the world there is, maybe unexpectedly, only a small group of hardened anti-internationalists representing a minority of the world's people (even if 25% in today’s US) who either feel coexistence 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 expense of others doing badly.

However there are an additional group at the opposite extreme, whom we might call dedicated globalists, who either still see cooperation across borders through free commerce as a mutually beneficial arrangement, or are what an influential thinker calls “locally engaged global citizens”.

Worldwide Public Position

Most people of the world's citizens are moderate in views: 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 permanent conflict between the “us” and the “others”, opponents permanently set apart from each other in an unbridgeable divide.

Do the majority in the middle prefer a duty-free or a dutiful world? Are they prepared to accept obligations beyond their local area or community boundaries? Yes, under certain conditions. A first group, 22%, will support humanitarian action to alleviate hardship and are ready to act out of altruism, backing disaster relief for disaster zones. Those we might call “charitable” cooperation advocates feel the pain of others and believe in something bigger than themselves.

A second group comprising a similar percentage are pragmatic multilateralists who want to know that any public funds for international development are used effectively. And there is a final category, roughly a fifth, self-interested multilateralists, who will approve 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 constructed not just for humanitarian aid if money is well spent but also for international measures to deal with worldwide issues, like environmental emergency and pandemic prevention, as long as this argument is argued on grounds of enlightened self-interest, and if we emphasize the mutual advantages that flow to them and their own country. And thus for those who have long questioned whether we work together from necessity or if we have a necessity for collaboration, the response is both.

This willingness to cooperate across borders shows how we can reverse the xenophobic tide: we can overcome current pessimistic, isolated and often aggressive and authoritarian nationalism that demonises newcomers, outsiders and “different groups” as long as we champion a optimistic, outward-looking and inclusive patriotism that responds to people’s desire to belong and resonates with their everyday worries.

Addressing Public Concerns

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 brought under control – the snapshots of opinion also tell us that the people are even more worried by what is happening in their personal circumstances and within their own local communities. Recently, a prominent leader spoke movingly about how what’s good about Britain can drive out what’s negative, doing so precisely because in most western countries, “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 far right is more interested in using complaints than resolving issues. A Reform leader praised a disastrous mini-budget as “an excellent fiscal policy” since the 1980s. But he would also implement a similar plan – what was planned – the biggest ever cuts in public services. The party's proposal to reduce public spending by a huge sum would not repair downtrodden communities but damage them, turn citizen against citizen and wreck any spirit of solidarity. Under a far-right government, you will not be able to afford to be sick, disabled, needy or vulnerable. 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 monetarism, and spiteful far beyond fiscal restraint. What the people are telling us 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 repeatedly 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 everyday compassion of the British people.