In the United States, the political and policy impact of the nationalist far-right through President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda is prominently in the global spotlight, and for good reason: Its breath-taking speed, depth and breadth make it impossible to ignore. Institutions are being shut down and eviscerated, rights and freedoms curtailed, and alliances undermined, even as political violence is on the rise.
In Europe, by contrast, the same phenomenon of nationalist far-right movements on the rise does not seem to be leading to similar institutional and policy results. To explain why the political transformation in Europe appears less radical compared to the U.S., some point to Europe’s distinct national contexts, with elections determined primarily by domestic factors; the different shades the far right comes in across the continent, as well as its structural difficulties in forging a united front; and the pressures and constraints imposed by the market and European Union institutions.
But this dichotomy between the U.S. and Europe may be more apparent than real. On closer inspection, the institutional and policy consequences of Europe’s far-right shift—in domestic politics but also in the EU institutions—could be just as deep. It is just happening by stealth, in a more muddled and quintessentially European way.
