Trump’s Loss May Trigger a Populist Butterfly Effect Around the Globe
The demise of Donald Trump has cut off the head of right-wing populism globally. Having Trump in power, and on Twitter, helped give credibility and fuel to populists elsewhere. Boris Johnson was the ‘Britain Trump,’ and Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, the ‘Trump of the Tropics’. In the past, America has set an example as a liberal democracy, and was a standard against which other countries were measured. If America is one of the leading super-powers, and Trump was one of the most powerful men in the world, his behaviour enabled lesser versions of him, in smaller countries. That has now ended.
Boslonaro is already said to have lost interest in running for another term since Trump’s defeat. Israel’s populist leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been empowered by Trump to do things that a liberal, democratic President would never have tolerated, has set about reminding Biden what old friends they are, like a teenager hiding a cigarette behind his back when his parents walk in the room.
In the UK, the timing of Trump’s ungracious ending could not have been worse for Boris Johnson. Trump supported Brexit, which was the first shock vote that showed right-wing populist nationalism could succeed, foreshadowing Trump’s own shock win. Brexit and Trump have been inextricably linked, both dividing an electorate roughly down the middle, both upsetting the Transatlantic, post-war order, and both putting gut before head. Both were about borders, immigration, and introspective nationalism, at the expense of openness, prosperity, and internationalism. Both have continued to divide their countries, and global opinion.
The UK is weeks away from its transition period with the EU ending, and there is still no deal in place for Britain’s future relationship with the European Union. This is a deal that the Brexit politicians promised the country would be ‘the easiest in history.’ It has been an unmitigated disaster, so far, not helped by low quality prime ministers building teams of even lower quality ministers, who have simply been out of their depth. As with Trump, when it came to the UK’s Conservative government, loyalty has mattered more than ability. Most of us have already forgotten the dismal failure-ridden ministerial careers of Liam Fox and David Davis, who were the…
