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The Reform UK leader portrays his political party as a distinct phenomenon that has exploded on to the world stage, its rapid ascent an remarkable historic moment. But this week, in every one of Europe’s major countries and from the Indian subcontinent and Thailand to the United States and Argentina, far-right, anti-immigration, anti-globalization parties like his are also leading in the opinion polls.

In last Saturday’s Czech elections, the rightwing, pro-Putin populist a prominent figure overthrew prime minister Petr Fiala. A French political group, which has just brought down yet another France's leader, 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. 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 Belgium’s Vlaams Belang – all staunch nationalist groups – are part of an international coalition of opponents of global cooperation, inspired by right-wing influencers such as a well-known figure, seeking to dethrone the international rule of law, diminish fundamental freedoms and undermine international collaboration.

The Populist Nationalist Surge

The populist nationalist surge exposes a new and unavoidable truth that supporters of democracy ignore at our peril: an nationalist ideology – once thought toppled with the Berlin Wall – has replaced neoliberalism as the dominant ideology of our age, giving us a world of firsts: “US priority”, “Indian focus”, “Chinese emphasis”, “Russia first”, “group priority” and often “exclusive group focus” 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 international human rights law not just by Russia in Ukraine but in almost every one of the world’s 59 cross-border conflicts and civil wars.

Understanding the Underlying Forces

It is important to understand the root causes, widespread globally, that have fuelled this new age of nationalism. It begins with a widely felt sense that a globalization that was open but not inclusive has been a free for all that has not been fair to all.

Over the past ten years, leaders have not only been slow to respond to the millions who feel left out and left behind, but also to the changing balance of world economic influence, transitioning from a unipolar world once led by the United States to a multipolar world of competing superpowers, and from a system of international law to a might-makes-right approach. The nationalist ideology that this has incited means free trade is being replaced by protectionism. Where market forces used to drive government policies, the nationalist agendas is now driving financial choices, and already over a hundred nations are running protectionist strategies characterized by bringing production home and ally-focused trade and by bans on international commerce, investment and technology transfer, sinking global collaboration to its weakest point since 1945.

Optimism in Public Opinion

However, there is hope. The situation is not fixed, and even as it hardens we can find hope in the common sense of the global public. In a recent survey for a major foundation, of thousands of individuals in 34 countries we find a clear majority are less receptive to an divisive nationalist agenda and more willing to support global teamwork than many of the officials who rule over them.

Across the world there is, maybe unexpectedly, only a small group of staunch global cooperation opponents representing a minority of the world's people (even if a quarter in today’s US) who either feel peaceful living between diverse communities is unattainable or have a win-lose perspective 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 international collaboration through free commerce as a mutually beneficial arrangement, or are what an influential thinker calls “rooted cosmopolitans”.

The Global Majority's Stance

The vast majority of the world's citizens 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 “us” and the “others”, opponents permanently set apart from each other in an unbridgeable divide.

Are most moderates favor a duty-free or a responsible global community? Are they willing to accept responsibilities beyond their garden gate or city wall? Affirmative, under specific circumstances. A initial segment, 22%, will support aid efforts to alleviate hardship and are ready to act out of altruism, supporting emergency help for affected areas. Those we might call “charitable” cooperation advocates empathize of others and believe in something bigger than themselves.

Another segment comprising 22% are pragmatic multilateralists who want to know that any public funds for global progress are spent well. And there is a third group, roughly a fifth, personally motivated collaborators, who will endorse teamwork if they can see that it benefits them and their communities, whether it be through guaranteeing them food on the table or safety and stability.

Forging a Collaborative Consensus

So a clear majority can be built not just for humanitarian aid if funds are used wisely but also for global action to deal with worldwide issues, like climate crisis and pandemic prevention, as long as this case is argued on grounds of wise personal benefit, and if we stress 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 need to cooperate, the response is both.

This willingness to work internationally shows how we can turn back the xenophobic tide: we can defeat today’s negative, isolated and often forceful and controlling patriotic extremism that vilifies newcomers, foreigners and “different groups” as long as we champion a optimistic, globally engaged and welcoming national pride that responds to people’s need for community 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 top concern – and no one should doubt that it must promptly be brought under control – the public sentiment data also tell us that the people are even more worried by what is happening in their personal circumstances and within their immediate neighborhoods. Last month, 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, “dysfunctional” and “in decline” are the words people have for years most frequently used when asked about both our financial system and society.

However, as the prime minister also reminded us, the extreme right is more interested in exploiting grievances than ending them. A Reform leader praised a disastrous mini-budget as “the best Conservative budget” since the 1980s. But he would also implement a comparable strategy – what was intended – the largest reductions in public services. The party's proposal to cut government expenditure by £275bn would not repair struggling areas but damage them, turn citizen against citizen and wreck any sense of unity. 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 school and which government service will be the first to be cut or closed.

The Stakes and the Alternative

“This ideology” is neoliberalism at its most inhumane, more harmful even than monetary policy, and spiteful far beyond fiscal restraint. What the people are indicating all over the west is that they want their leaders to rebuild our economies and our communities. “Reform” and its global allies should be revealed repeatedly for policies that would devastate both. And for those of us who believe our best days could be in the future, we can go beyond highlighting the party's contradictions by setting out a argument for a improved nation that appeals not just to visionaries, but to realists, to personal benefit, and to the daily kindness of the British people.