Opportunism, Chaos and Incoherence: The Populist Right and the Future of World Order

The emergence of a collection of right-wing actors and the success of radical right-wing parties in Europe, coupled with the rise of what Ben-Ghiat terms the so-called ‘strongmen’ (Trump, Modi, Melei etc) has left many questioning the continued future of the post-cold war liberal world order and – by association – of the neoliberal ideology. Some have suggested that neoliberalism has reorientated itself and has developed a more populist or authoritarian appearance and as such seen the post-cold war liberal order recreate itself in a different guise, while others have suggested that the liberal order is over in all but form. We have, they argue reached an interregnum within world politics where a new order will develop in due course. This paper looks at the significance of populist right development and suggests that we are not seeing the development of a collection of national alternatives positioned to replace the fabric of the current order in the same manner as the period from 1880 to 1945 did previous in devastating fashion (as illustrated for example by Cox and Hobsbawm). Current trends appear to lack such clarity. Instead, what appears to be developing is a collection of empty populist articulations that can be defined more by gesture politics than by any form of ideological coherence. Whilst a collection of parties, movements and individuals have certainly emerged to form a loose transnational network, geared towards generating a national-populist alternative, they lack any form of ideological hegemonic foundation to be consistent. Conversely, we have a collection of contradictory and directionless positions that are often marked by opportunism as opposed to any ideological consistency. This paper will argue that what is emerging instead is a world order, marked increasingly by chaos, instability and – increasingly – farce, that whilst does not give us any indication to how the post-cold war order is being transformed, does tell us that it is unravelling.