The struggle to save democracy is proving even more difficult in Europe than here in the US. Virtually every European country is bedeviled by rising conflict between traditional political parties on one side and far-right, sometimes neo-fascist parties on the other.
Each such conflict has its own history and evolution, but taken together they reveal a disturbing pattern not all that different from the Trump-fueled assault on democratic institutions and values we are experiencing. In a few words, the pattern is conspiracy mongering, denigration of “the other,” appeals to white Christian nationalism, a focus on economic instability, and above all constant outrage over social media–all with violence as an unspoken remedy.
In fact, according to one foreign-policy expert with whom I once worked (Morton Halperin), “murder is the best option” for autocrats. “Passive resistance works unless you have a leader who is willing to shoot people marching in the street.”
From Italy to Poland and (Yes) Sweden
Take Italy, for example, where a far-right candidate (Giorgia Meloni) is about to become prime minister. Her party, the Fratelli di Italia (Brothers of Italy), has ties to the Fascists of Mussolini’s day. She is the product of years of campaigning by Matteo Salvini’s League against a migrant “invasion,” the theft of Italians’ values, and the capture of Italy’s economy by “world elites”– meaning the forces of globalization.
Meloni was able to “ride a populist wave of anger as her political party strategically positioned itself as the opposition to the unfolding Neoliberal disaster that has set the Italian and European economy back decades.” Meloni’s party comes to power with only 25% support, but in combination with other parties, including Salvini’s League, it will hold the balance of power in parliament.