Conservative populism: Are we going to a less free world?
By: Gui Bentley
Tags: Populism, Politics, Foreign Policy, Liberty, Conservatives

Politics, civil rights and Liberty

Conservative populism: Are we going to a less free world?

Foreign policies in XXI century.

Crises are characterized not only by the economic effects they have on societies, but they also known to be moments in which politicians far from the political center tend to rise. Since the 2008 crisis, we have observed the appearance of populist and conservative leaders that gained considerable ground in the political field, nowadays we see the marks left by those leaders and the new ones that followed. However, these populisms do not seem to be like those we observed in Latin America after the 2002 crisis and the commodity price boom. The Latin American regimes of that time were of a left-populist nature. The case of Néstor Kirchner in Argentina, Lula Da Silva in Brazil, Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Rafael Correa in Ecuador and Evo Morales in Bolivia marked a period of time in which the populist movement had a strong ideological association with the left and based their speeches in “the inheritance that the Neo-liberals had left”.

Many of those governments are now obsolete or have been further radicalized, such as the case of Venezuela with Nicolás Maduro and Argentina with Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and currently — radicalized to a lesser degree- with the government of Alberto Fernández. However, the fall of those left-wing populisms was not necessarily a return to the political center. On the contrary, it has moved towards a new style of populism, which we call “conservative populism”.

Certainly, you may know who is part of this new club and what their perception of an ideal world is… Indeed, we are talking about Donald J. Trump in the United States, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Boris Johnson in the United Kingdom and Recep Erdogan in Turkey, among others. These countries and their leaders represent some of the most relevant examples of conservative populism on the international scene. Before we move forward with the analysis, it is necessary to keep in mind that populism does not respond to a particular ideology, but to a way of governing, so thinking that all these leaders govern ideologically similar is committing a serious error.

Perhaps one of the great differences with left-wing populisms of the beginning of the XXI century is the region in which they took place -Latin America- and the geopolitical influence and importance that these countries have in the international relations -mainly characterized as marginal players in the international arena with limited power. However, when the changes occur in countries with the power to influence and modify certain bases in the perception, persuasion, and relationship between countries and blocks, the status quo starts to be threatened by this new shift in the way those power countries behave.

The viewpoint of conservative populists has strongly affected the international political system. First, their disbelief in multilateralism and collaborative systems articulated by the presence of countries in international organizations such as the United Nations, WHO, WTO, NATO, begin to affect essential issues such as trade, health, and the balance of power. We have seen Jair Bolsonaro threaten to exit international agreements such as the Paris Climate Agreement. We also observed Donald Trump withdrawing from the Nuclear Agreement, the Paris Agreement, the constant questioning of NATO, re-negotiating the NAFTA in order to meet fairer commercial terms with its neighbors resulting in the new USMCA, halting funding to the WHO and making all kinds of trade resolutions and agreements outside the frameworks created and approved by the countries in the WTO.

The actions of these leaders show that conservative populism has a clear tendency towards protectionism and nationalism. One of the political realities that the world lives and one of the most delicate points that has grown with conservative populism is the immigration issue. We are seeing how countries are beginning to close to the world. The Brexit phenomenon served as an example of this, showing how of popular sentiment leaned towards conservative views, where one of the points that was questioned was immigration. These conservative-leaning citizens were easily captured by the populist leaders -and their rhetoric- who fueled their position towards conservatism.

Xenophobic comments seem to be more present in today’s world and the presence of Covid-19 seems to accelerate the deepening of protectionist and nationalist measures, serving as an excuse to impose immigration policies that a matter of months ago were politically incorrect and therefore unthinkable to be even brought up for discussion. Today the virus provides a window of opportunity for these leaders to pass these measures stating that are actions taken towards “fighting the virus.” In the article “Will the States return power to us after the health crisis is over?” we have addressed the issue of temporary measures that become indefinite. Immigration is also one of the issues that must be monitored, in particular those nationalist -and arbitrary- measures that are imposed in the name of the fight against the Coronavirus, which should not be indefinite once the virus is controlled.

Therefore, we can understand and reflect that conservative populisms seem to be guiding the world towards a less collaborative and more closed one. Where Covid-19 has accelerated and justified many decisions that decreased rights and freedoms. The impact on privacy and freedom if these decisions are expanded indefinitely can be of great magnitude. This forces us to review the policies imposed by conservative populists, which seem to be deeply divisive, so they must be examined once this crisis scenario is behind us. On the other hand, international organizations will have to review and re-set their roles in the light of the new normal the world is going through. It will be necessary that they promote the benefits they bring to the subscribing countries, and aim to achieve a greater balance between developed and developing countries, by avoiding the deepening in the gap between these two groups of countries. These multilateral organizations should provide predictability, clear rules and certainties to its members. But unfortunately, in the light of a less collaborative world, these organizations may not be as effective as they should. That leads to a deepen of the gap between those who are developed and those who try to achieve development.