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Nigel Farage portrays his Reform UK party as a distinct phenomenon that has burst on to the world 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 United States and South America, hard-right, anti-immigration, anti-globalization parties similar to his are also ahead in the public surveys.

During recent Czech voting, the conservative, pro-Russian leader a prominent figure toppled the head of government Petr Fiala. A French political group, which has just forced the resignation of yet another French prime minister, is leading the polls for both the presidential race and parliament. In Germany, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is currently the leading party. A Hungarian political force, Slovakia's governing alliance and the Brothers of Italy are already in power, while the Austrian FPÖ, the Dutch PVV and Belgian Vlaams Belang – all hardline nationalists – are part of an international coalition of opponents of global cooperation, motivated by right-wing influencers like Steve Bannon, seeking to overthrow the global legal order, weaken fundamental freedoms and undermine international collaboration.

Rise of Populist Nationalism

The populist nationalist surge exposes a recent undeniable reality that democrats ignore at great risk: an nationalist ideology – once thought defeated with the historic barrier – has replaced economic liberalism as the dominant ideology of our age, giving us a world of priorities: “America first”, “India first”, “Chinese emphasis”, “Russia first”, “my tribe first” 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 ethnic nationalism is the force behind the violations of global human rights standards not just by one nation in conflict but in almost every instance of global strife.

Understanding the Underlying Forces

It is important to understand the underlying forces, widespread globally, that have driven this new age of nationalism. It begins with a broadly shared perception that a globalisation that was accessible yet exclusionary has been a unregulated system that has not been fair to all.

For more than a decade, leaders have not only been delayed in addressing to the millions who feel left out and left behind, but also to the shifting dynamics of global economic power, moving us from a unipolar world once led by the US 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 open commerce is being replaced by trade barriers. Where market forces used to drive politics, the nationalist agendas is now driving financial choices, and already more than 100 countries are running protectionist strategies characterized by reshoring and ally-focused trade and by bans on cross-border trade, investment and knowledge sharing, lowering international cooperation to its lowest ebb since the post-war period.

Optimism in Public Opinion

However, there is hope. The cement is still wet, and even as it hardens we can find hope in the common sense of the global public. In a poll conducted for a prominent organization, of 36,000 people in 34 countries we find a clear majority are more resistant to an divisive nationalist agenda and more inclined to embrace international cooperation than many of the officials who rule over them.

Across the world there is, perhaps surprisingly, only a small group of staunch global cooperation opponents representing 16.5% of the world's people (even if 25% in the United States currently) who either feel coexistence 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 dedicated globalists, who either still see international collaboration through free commerce as a positive sum win-win, or are what a prominent philosopher calls “locally engaged global citizens”.

Worldwide Public Position

Most people of the global public are somewhere in between: 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 permanent conflict between the “our side” and the “them”, opponents permanently set apart from each other in an irreconcilable gap.

Are most moderates favor a duty-free or a dutiful world? Are they willing to accept obligations beyond their garden gate or city wall? Affirmative, under certain conditions. A initial segment, about a fifth, will support aid efforts to relieve suffering and are prepared to act out of altruism, backing disaster relief for affected areas. Those we might call “good cause” cooperation advocates feel the pain of others and have faith in something larger than their own interests.

Another segment comprising 22% are practical cooperators who want to know that any public funds for international development are spent well. And there is a third group, roughly a fifth, personally motivated collaborators, who will endorse cooperation if they can see that it advantages 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 emergency assistance if money is well spent but also for global action to deal with worldwide issues, like climate crisis and pandemic prevention, as long as this argument is argued on grounds of enlightened self-interest, and if we stress the reciprocal benefits that benefit them and their own country. And thus for those who have long wondered whether we cooperate out of need or if we have a need to cooperate, the answer is each.

This willingness to work internationally shows how we can turn back the anti-foreigner sentiment: we can defeat current pessimistic, inward-looking and often forceful and controlling nationalism that vilifies immigrants, outsiders and “different groups” as long as we champion a positive, globally engaged and inclusive patriotism that addresses people’s need for community and connects to their immediate concerns.

Addressing Public Concerns

Although in-depth polls tell us that across the west, unauthorized entry is currently the top concern – and it's clear that it must quickly be managed effectively – the snapshots of opinion also tell us that the people are even more worried by what is happening in their own lives and within their immediate neighborhoods. Last month, a prominent leader gave an emotional speech about how what’s positive in the nation can overcome what’s bad, 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.

However, as the prime minister also reminded us, the extreme right is more interested in exploiting grievances than ending them. Nigel Farage praised a disastrous mini-budget as “the best Conservative budget” since the 1980s. But he would also implement a similar plan – what was intended – the biggest ever cuts in public services. Reform’s plan to reduce public spending by a huge sum would not fix struggling areas but ravage them, turn citizen against citizen and wreck any sense of unity. Under a hard-right regime, you will not be able to afford to be sick, disabled, needy or vulnerable. Every day from now on, and in every electoral district, the party should be asked which medical facility, which educational institution and which public service will be the first to be cut or closed.

The Stakes and the Alternative

“This ideology” is economic theory at its most cruel, more harmful even than monetary policy, and spiteful far beyond fiscal restraint. What the people are telling us all over the west is that they want their leaders to restore our economies and our civic societies. “The party” and its global allies should be revealed day after day for plans that would devastate both. And for those of us who believe our best days could be ahead of us, we can go beyond pointing out Reform’s hypocrisy by setting out a case for a improved nation that appeals not just to idealists, but to pragmatists, to personal benefit, and to the daily kindness of the nation's citizens.