The issue that has always been at the heart of the rise of modern far-right populism is immigration. Everywhere you look, you see that fears of uncontrolled immigration have produced political rewards for “anti-globalists.”
Covid-19 destabilized many developing countries in the Southern Hemisphere, which then exacerbated poverty and violence as those countries struggled. The Ukraine war has caused a once-in-a-lifetime movement out of that country on one side of the world, while Venezuela’s brutal crackdown has led to another of similar magnitude on the other. Climate change adds to this toxic brew. When you put it all together, you end up with a historic movement of people across the world.
I worry that, as the pressures from migration increase, the rhetoric from the right will get louder and noisier. Donald Trump is well aware that hostility toward immigration was his ticket to the White House in 2016. As the demagogues raise their rhetoric and scare more people, the center will not hold.
