New Nationalism (or neo-nationalism), also known as new populism, populist wave, populist spring, world populism, and world revolution is a type of nationalism that rose in the mid-2010s, especially, but not exclusively, in Western Europe and North America. It is associated with several positions, such as right-wing populism, anti-globalization, nativism, protectionism, opposition to immigration, and euroscepticism (where applicable). According to one scholar, "nationalist resistance to global liberalism turned out to be the most influential force in Western politics" in 2016. Particularly notable expressions of new nationalism include the UK referendum to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. It is debated whether geopolitics, economics, demographics, or technological advancement is the largest contributer.
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Overview and characteristics
Michael Hirsh, writing for Politico, described New Nationalism as "a bitter populist rejection of the status quo that global elites have imposed on the international system since the Cold War ended, and which lower-income voters have decided—understandably—is unfair." Michael Brendan Dougherty wrote in The Week that New Nationalism is a "broad nativist revolt" against post-Cold War politics long "characterized by an orthodoxy of free trade, nurturing the service economy, neoliberal trading arrangements, and liberalized immigration policies." According to Takis Fotopoulos Neo-Nationalism developed in the era of globalization with the aim of protecting economic, political, and cultural sovereignty. According to him Neo-Nationalists have adopted demands associated with the political left, such as minimization of the power of the elites and anti-war positions. The Economist wrote in November 2016 that "new nationalists are riding high on promises to close borders and restore societies to a past homogeneity." Clarence Page wrote in the Las Vegas Sun that "a new neo-tribal nationalism has boiled up in European politics and to a lesser degree in the United States since the global economic meltdown of 2008." According to Harvard political theorist Yascha Mounk "economic stagnation among lower- and middle-class whites [has been] a main driver for nationalism's rise around the globe." According to religion scholar Mark L. Movesian new nationalism "sets the nation-state against supranational, liberal regimes like the EU or NAFTA, and local customs and traditions, including religious traditions, against alien, outside trends."
Conservative views
Conservative views of neo-nationalism are significantly more divided than liberal views internationally, with many traditional or moderate conservatives (including neo-conservatives and conservative-leaning libertarians) standing as hard-line skeptics of neo-nationalism's revolutionary and radical reformist mentality. David Brog and Yoram Hazony wrote in National Review that some conservatives view the new nationalism associated with Brexit and Trump as a betrayal of conservative ideology, while they see it as a "return". According to conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg the nationalism associated with Trump is "really little more than a brand name for generic white identity politics."
Liberal views
Liberal economist Paul Krugman called "the emerging white nationalist alliance between European neo-Nazis, Russia, and Trump officials" Axis of evil.
Brexit and Trump
The 23 June 2016 referendum in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union ("Brexit") and the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States in November 2016 have been described as milestones of New Nationalism. Owen Matthews noted similarities in motives for support of the Brexit and Trump. He wrote in Newsweek that supporters of both are motivated by "a yearning to control immigration, reverse globalization and restore national greatness by disengaging from the wide, threatening world."
Matthew O'Brien wrote of the Brexit as "the most shocking success for the new nationalism sweeping the Western world." Leaders of the Brexit, such as Nigel Farage, the leader of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party and former London Mayor Boris Johnson have been called "new nationalists."
Trump's rise to the Republican candidacy was widely described as a sign of growing New Nationalism in the US. A Chicago Sun-Times editorial on the day of the inauguration of Donald Trump called him "our new nationalist president." The appointment of Steve Bannon, the executive of Breitbart News (associated with the alt-right movement), was described by one analyst as arousal of a "new world order, driven by patriotism and a fierce urge to look after your own, a neo-nationalism that endlessly smears Muslims and strives to turn back the clock on free trade and globalisation, a world where military might counts for far more than diplomacy and compromise." Justin Raimondo of Antiwar.com described Michael T. Flynn (Trump's National Security Advisor nominee) and Mike Pompeo (Trump's nominee for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency) as New Nationalists.
American businessman and professor Ted Malloch compared "enthusiastic and charismatic" presidential candidate Trump's rhetoric to the 1912 "New Nationalism" speech of Theodore Roosevelt. He drew parallels between the bold rhetoric of Roosevelt and Trump's slogan to "Make America Great Again."
European Union
Several right-wing populist or far-right politicians in EU member states have been described as New Nationalists. They include:
Law and Justice, the ruling party of Poland, the Finns Party, a member of the governing coalition in Finland, the Slovak National Party, a member of the governing coalition in Slovakia, the Sweden Democrats, and Alternative for Germany (AfD) have been described as New Nationalist parties.
Non-Western countries
Right-wing leaders of non-Western countries, such as Russia (Vladimir Putin), Turkey (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan), India (Narendra Modi), Japan (Shinzo Abe), Egypt (Abdel Fattah el-Sisi), and Israel (Benjamin Netanyahu) have been described as new nationalists. Putin has been described by Hirsh as "the harbinger of this new global nationalism." Charles Clover, the Moscow bureau chief of the Financial Times from 2008 to 2013, wrote a book in 2016 titled Black Wind, White Snow: The Rise of Russia's New Nationalism. In 2014 Mustafa Akyol wrote of a new "brand of Turkish neonationalism" promoted by Justice and Development Party, the country's ruling party, the leader of which is President Erdoğan. China's paramount leader Xi Jinping's concept of "Chinese Dream" has been described as an expression of new nationalism. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has also been described as a new nationalist.