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Nigel Farage portrays his political party as a unique occurrence that has exploded on to the global stage, its meteoric rise an remarkable epochal event. However this week, in every one of the continent's leading countries and from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia to the United States and Argentina, hard-right, anti-immigrant, anti-globalization parties like his are also leading in the opinion polls.

During recent Czech voting, the rightwing, pro-Russian leader a prominent figure overthrew the head of government Petr Fiala. National Rally, which has just brought down yet another French prime minister, is ahead the polls for both the presidential race and parliament. In Germany, the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is currently the most popular party. A Hungarian political force, Robert Fico’s pro-Russian Slovakian coalition and the Italian political group are already in power, while the Austrian FPÖ, the Dutch PVV and Belgium’s Vlaams Belang – all hardline nationalists – are part of an international coalition of anti-internationalists, inspired by right-wing influencers like Steve Bannon, aiming to dethrone the international rule of law, weaken fundamental freedoms and undermine multilateral cooperation.

Rise of Populist Nationalism

The populist nationalist surge exposes a recent undeniable reality that democrats ignore at great risk: an authoritarian ethnic nationalism – once thought toppled with the Berlin Wall – has replaced neoliberalism as the leading belief system of our age, giving us a world of firsts: “America first”, “Indian focus”, “Chinese emphasis”, “Russian primacy”, “my tribe first” and often “exclusive group focus” regimes. It is this nationalist sentiment 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 international human rights law 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 root causes, widespread globally, that have driven this recent nationalist era. It begins with a widely felt sense that a globalisation that was open but not inclusive has been a free for all that has not been fair to all.

Over the past ten years, political figures have not only been slow to respond to the many people who feel left out and left behind, but also to the shifting dynamics of global economic power, moving us from a US-dominated era once dominated by the United States to a multi-power landscape of rival major nations, and from a rules-based order to a might-makes-right approach. The ethnic nationalism that this has incited means free trade is being replaced by trade barriers. Where market forces used to drive government policies, the nationalist agendas is now driving financial choices, and already more than 100 countries are running mercantilist policies marked out by bringing production home and ally-focused trade and by restrictions on cross-border trade, investment and technology transfer, sinking global collaboration to its lowest ebb since 1945.

Hope in Global Public Sentiment

However, there is hope. The situation is not fixed, and even as it solidifies we can find hope in the common sense of the world's population. In a recent survey for a major foundation, of 36,000 people in dozens of nations we find a significant portion are less receptive to an divisive nationalist agenda and more willing to support global teamwork than many of the officials who rule over them.

Globally there is, maybe unexpectedly, only a small group of staunch global cooperation opponents representing a minority of the world's people (even if 25% in today’s US) who either feel peaceful living between diverse communities is unattainable or have a zero-sum mindset that if they or their country do well, it has to be at the cost of others doing badly.

But there are an additional group at the opposite extreme, whom we might call dedicated globalists, who either still see cooperation across borders through open trade as a positive sum win-win, or are what a prominent philosopher calls “rooted cosmopolitans”.

Worldwide Public Position

The vast majority of the world's citizens are moderate in views: not narrow, inward-looking nationalists, as “America first” ideology would suggest, or fully global citizens. They are patriotic but don’t see the world as in a never-ending struggle between the “our side” and the “them”, adversaries always divided from each other in an irreconcilable gap.

Are most moderates favor a duty-free or a dutiful world? Are they willing to accept responsibilities beyond their garden gate or city wall? Affirmative, under specific circumstances. A first group, 22%, will back aid efforts to alleviate hardship and are ready to act out of selflessness, supporting emergency help for disaster zones. Those we might call “good cause” cooperation advocates feel the pain of others and believe in something bigger than themselves.

A second group comprising a similar percentage are practical cooperators who want to know that any taxes paid for international development are used effectively. And there is a final category, 21%, personally motivated collaborators, who will approve cooperation if they can see that it advantages them and their communities, whether it be through guaranteeing them food on the table or peace and security.

Building a Cooperative Majority

Thus a clear majority can be constructed not just for humanitarian aid if funds are used wisely but also for international measures to deal with global problems, like environmental emergency and disease control, as long as this argument is argued on grounds of enlightened self-interest, and if we emphasize the reciprocal benefits that benefit them and their own country. And thus for those who have long wondered whether we work together from necessity or if we have a necessity for collaboration, the answer is each.

This willingness to cooperate across borders shows how we can turn back the xenophobic tide: we can defeat today’s negative, inward-looking and often forceful and controlling patriotic extremism that demonises newcomers, outsiders and “different groups” as long as we champion a positive, outward-looking and welcoming patriotism that responds to people’s need for community and connects to their immediate concerns.

Tackling Key Issues

Although detailed surveys tell us that across the west, illegal immigration is currently the biggest national issue – and it's clear that it must quickly be managed effectively – the public sentiment data also tell us that the people are even more worried by what is happening in their own lives and within their own local communities. Last month, a prominent leader spoke movingly about how what’s positive in the nation can drive out what’s negative, doing so precisely because in most western countries, “broken” and “deteriorating” are the words people have for years most frequently used when asked about both our financial system and community.

However, as the leader also pointed out, the extreme right is more interested in exploiting grievances than resolving issues. Nigel Farage praised a ill-fated economic plan as “an excellent fiscal policy” since 1986. But he would also enact a comparable strategy – what was planned – the largest reductions in government programs. Reform’s plan to cut government expenditure by £275bn would not repair downtrodden communities but ravage them, create social division and wreck any sense of unity. Under a far-right government, you will not be able to afford to be sick, disabled, needy or vulnerable. Every day from now on, and in every constituency, Reform should be asked which hospital, which school and which public service will be the first to be reduced or closed.

The Stakes and the Alternative

“Faragism” is neoliberalism at its most cruel, more harmful even than monetary policy, and vindictive far beyond austerity. What the people are telling us all over the Western world is that they want their governments to restore our economies and our civic societies. “The party” and its global allies should be revealed day after day for plans that would harm both. And for those of us who believe our greatest achievements could be ahead of us, we can go beyond pointing out Reform’s hypocrisy by setting out a case for a better Britain that resonates not just to visionaries, but to pragmatists, to personal benefit, and to the daily kindness of the British people.