10 years ago in Norway, Anders Behring Breivik detonated a bomb beside a Norwegian national government building in Oslo, then proceeded to Utøya, 38 kilometres from the capital, shooting youths in a summer camp there; a total of 77 people (69 in Utøya and 8 in the Oslo bombing) were killed. Breivik had far-right motives for the attack, which was widely condemned around the world, but his ideologies were shared, and such views became a force that shaped the politics of 2010s and is difficult to tame.

The terror attack in the Scandinavian country marked the rise of the far-right threat, but what were its post-WWII origins, and how did it entered global mainstream politics?

European seeds

Far-right powers were successful in gaining popularity through populism in late 1920s, and later found themselves in conflict with their former rivals in the World War I (though Italy was allied with these forces that include the United Kingdom). After the Second World War, these superpowers-- the Axis powers (in Germany, in Italy and in Japan)-- succumbed to the Allies, though the far-right itself did not totally die (the second Ku Klux Klan (KKK) faded away before the end of the War (1944) then had offshoots in the later years; the Apartheid regime was formed post-War (1948); and the regime of Spain's Francisco Franco remained due to its non-participation despite support for the Axis). The Nazis obtained the indelible reputation of being totalitarian and genocidal, thus many future far-right movements distanced themselves from Nazism and also Fascism (as, despite the Fascists' non-belief to Nazi Nordicism and demonisation of the Jewry (the latter being later adopted), the Italian and German regimes signed the Pact of Steel, and Benito Mussolini fell with (or before the defeat of) Hitler).

Right-wing intellectuals in France in 1960s then helped develop forming a new movement in the French Right-- the Nouvelle Droite (ND; New Right) in 1968, which started with the birth of the think-tank Research and Study Group for European Civilization (GRECE). ND renounced stereotyped rightism associated with Fascism and Nazism and was syncretic-- adopting some insights from Marxism and also inspired by the German Conservative Revolution during the Weimar era (1920s); it also promoted ethnopluralism (the respect for different cultures within Europe only, while rejecting multiculturalism) and condemned human equality, liberalism and Christianity (the latter being the root of liberal, egalitarian and socialist ideas), making it somewhat similar to Fascism (which also came out from Socialism) despite its refusal of association therewith. It had no plans to venture into politics but aimed to serve as an influencing force therein. Some figures linked with ND/GRECE include Alain de Benoist, Guillaume Faye, Pierre Vial, Dominique Venner, Jean-Yves le Gallou, Yvan Blot, and the now-Carrefour de l'Horloge.

Non-French Europeans were then inspired by the ND and out of the movement came the European New Right (ENR), and later the Identitarian movement in the 21st century, which views the European peoples as one race, and has the mission to safeguard the continent from the invasion of non-Europeans. Like the ND, identitarians eschew being associated with the Fascists and the Nazis, but they want to venture into politics; as philosopher Pierre-André Taguieff noted in his book The Revenge of Nationalism (2015), they plan to introduce themselves as "post-fascists" and "post-Nazis" instead of "neo-fascists" and "neo-Nazis". Identitarians also argue that the so-called "cultural Marxism", purportedly espoused by European liberal regimes, is destroying the people's culture by propagating liberalism and multiculturalism.

French gay writer-turned-conspiracy theorist Renaud Camus published the book The Great Replacement in 2011 after his previous publications and insights; he argues that the European demographics is being engineered (a crime) through the assimilation of non-European immigrants (particularly Muslims and Africans) and embracing liberal values that is perceived to harm Europe's "whiteness", with the assistance of the European liberal regimes. Camus argues the theory is not a concept but a phenomenon. This conspiracy theory is embraced by European identitarians, but there are also other conspiracy theories that help fuel the European far-right rhetoric; one of which is "Eurabia", coined by Egyptian-British author Bat Ye'or (Gisèle Littman), and which claims that Europe will be overtaken by Muslims. It has some semblance of the debunked-yet-popular anti-Semitic conspiracy theory from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion-- that Jews will control the world (except that Muslims replaced the Jews in the "Eurabia" conspiracy theory). Camus also made the same replacement, removing anti-Semitic elements in his theory, thus it gained wider and more popular appeal (as right-wing anti-Semitism is associated with Nazism). Another conspiracy theory, which is older, is that of Austrian Nazi author Gerd Honsik, arguing that the Austrian-Japanese pan-European activist Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi wanted the European race to be mixed, hence the name "Kalergi Plan".

All of these conspiracy theories are part of the widely-discredited "white genocide" conspiracy theory, which has gained ground also outside of Europe, notably in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Canada, and especially the United States.

American seeds

The notorious American right is distinguished from its European counterpart by the influences of the Confederate States (1861-1865; known for defending slave ownership) and the KKK (the first Klan was formed by Confederate veterans). One of the former members of the latter's derivatives was David Lane, who also despised Christianity like ND despite KKK's "Christian" nationalism, was the mastermind of the assassination of Jewish radio commentator Alan Berg in 1984, and is most known for his 14 Words ("We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children"). White nationalism was formerly in the fringes of the American right in the 1990s-- mainly KKK derivatives and neo-Nazis, but adherents wished of getting through the political mainstream. White supremacist Jared Taylor helped provide building blocks for the current American right, through his online magazine American Renaissance.

Before the rise of Barack Obama to power in 2008, their criticism was mainly directed to the mainstream conservatives and not the democrats, alleging them of betraying whites. This behaviour changed in 2008 (for Obama is of mixed African and European descent), and at the same year, the "Alternative Right" was born. Paleoconservative academic Paul Gottfried coined the term in a talk of his that year, but it was fellow paleoconservative Richard Spencer who propagated this idea; he later became the president of the white supremacist think-tank National Policy Institute (NPI) in 2011, helping popularise this movement (the Alternative Right).

Paleoconservatism and white nationalism were some inspirations of what will become the alt-right (the shortened form of Alternative Right), though the former only aimed to reform American conservatism and is close to Christianity (a major differentiating factor between American and European rightists); also included are the ND and ENR, Identitarianism, and the "Dark Enlightenment" (which argues people will be enlightened by returning to the old ways, denouncing liberal thought).

Small weed growing

A 17 April 2017 campaign rally of the far-right National Front (now National Rally (RN)), one of France's major political parties, with leader Marine Le Pen as its candidate for the presidential election that year. Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA, via NBC News.

The far right has not yet dominated Western politics from 2000-2010, although the Hungarian liberal-turned-ultraconservative Fidesz returned to power in 2010. Right-wing terrorism alerted the world in 2011 after Breivik shook Norway. The centre-left Labour Party was the ruling party that time, and its youth wing, the Workers' Youth League (AUF), annually held its summer camp in Utøya, thus many of those killed in the attacks were youths. Breivik first published a manifesto2083: A European Declaration of Independence, around 90 minutes before the Oslo bombing; it contained the denunciation of the "cultural Marxism" (hence the Labour Party being his target) and Bat Ye'or's "Eurabia" conspiracy theory. He also complained that Europe's Christian identity is under attack by Muslims and migrants, but he rejected any personal relation with Jesus Christ or God (but claims his culture makes him "Christian", something repudiated by Christians themselves). The threat of the far-right, however, is downplayed after the incident, and what followed were exploited by the movement.

Prior to the Norway attacks was the Arab Spring, and the most violent were in Libya and in Syria. Muammar Gaddafi treated the disgruntled Libyan masses as "cockroaches", and Bashar al-Assad did not hesitate to massacre Syrian protesters; both dictators got support from the far-right aside from their far-left backers (in Gaddafi's case, after ally Yugoslavia broke apart, he backed Serbia ruled by ultranationalists; in Assad's case, Italian, American and other rightists praise him). Then in 2013 was the rise of the so-called "Islamic State" in Iraq and Syria. These conflicts prompted more people from these regions to flee for Europe, and the power vacuum left in Libya after Gaddafi's death made influx of Africans to Europe uncontrollable. 2014 was the fall of the Putinist regime in Ukraine (i.e., the Euromaidan), and it was a humiliation for the Russian leader, as well as it provided a weak, pro-Western spot beside the country's borders. Using these events, Vladimir Putin's regime emboldened populists across Europe and later despots around the world, from Daniel Ortega to Narendra Modi to Hun Sen; he befriended left-wing (France's Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Slovakia's Robert Fico, Bulgaria's Rumen Radev, Moldova's Igor Dodon, Czech Republic's Miloš Zeman), centrist (Serbia's Aleksandar Vučić, Czech Republic's Andrej Babiš (a closet Putinist, though)) and right-wing populists (though their Putinist stance predate Euromaidan).

Such Putin-backed groups and individuals espouse these identitarian and xenophobic views. Major Putinist right-wing players in Italian politics are the now-governing Five Star Movement (M5S) and now-opposition Northern League, while much-feared forces include CasaPound and New Force (FN); all of which have anti-migrant stances. Denmark has the Danish People's Party (DPP/DF); its former leader Pia Kjærsgaard echoed the "Great Replacement" argument one time. Switzerland has the Swiss People's Party, the Netherlands has the Party for Freedom (PVV), Austria has the Freedom Party (FPÖ), Slovakia has Marian Kotleba's party (KĽSNS), Bulgaria has GERB, Greece has Golden Dawn, and Spain has Vox. Hungary has the ruling Fidesz and the opposition Jobbik, both far-right Putinist and anti-immigration parties. Germany has the Alternative (AfD), and a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Thilo Sarrazin, invoked the "Great Replacement" theory in his pieces, prompting the party to oust him last year, albeit in a hellishly slow process. And France, the birthplace of ENR and Identitarian movements, has the National Rally (RN), which is of course influenced by the ND. Camus backed party president Marine Le Pen as he failed to get through the 2012 presidential election, and even she evoked his conspiracy theory, despite her denial in 2019. Her niece and former National Assembly delegate Marion Maréchal also supported this theory.

Among these parties, Fidesz (not anti-Christian, however; read more) and SVP are the ones able to sustain power over Hungary and Switzerland, respectively; M5S broke up with the League in 2020, while DPP was defeated by Denmark's coalition led by the Social Democrats in 2019 (although the anti-immigrant stance was kept, and Syrians in the country are the victims of the potential refoulement to Damascus), and GERB is still struggling to be Bulgaria's governing party. All others are not ruling parties. But Janez Janša's Slovenian Democratic Party, which also had the same fate as Fidesz (once liberal, now ultraconservative), still managed to show the right-wing wave in Europe is not yet finished. The party is also pro-Putin and anti-immigrant, and Janša became prime minister in January 2020.

It is also the rise of the right-wing (such as the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and later the now-Reform UK) which is responsible for the secession of the UK from European Union through Brexit, decided in 2016 and effective 31 January this year. Poland also had seen the rise of right-wing populists to power in 2015, but despite being also anti-immigrant, Putinism has no hold over the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, as this Polish nationalist party displays resentment against the Nazis and Stalinists (Russian Putinists praise Joseph Stalin).

Moving westward to America, It was in also in 2014 when the alt-right rose to popularity, through social media (notably the fora platforms popular among gamers like 4chan (still loosely controlled) and Reddit (now strictly moderated to counter right-wing extremists)) and then other forms of mass media like blogs, news websites and channels (e.g., BreitbartInfoWarsThe Right Stuff, The Daily Stormer, Right Side Broadcasting (RSBN) and Fox News). Usage of the internet for discussion and propaganda is the trademark of the alt-right. White supremacism and the anti-liberal sentiment were laced with populism and demagogy to easily reach the American masses, and to establish power over the United States, the alt-right threw its weight behind magnate Donald Trump, who shared the movement's conservatism and had support from Putin as well, as they encroached the conservatives of the Republican Party, becoming Trump's political party. He would then become USA's 45th president.

The poisonous fruits


Rioters posing inside the Capitol rotunda as they invaded the building on 06 January 2021, while Congress inside was certifying results of the 2020 American elections right before the storm. Photo by EPA, via BBC.

The aims of the Western far-right grew to return and prevail in politics has succeeded, and so did hate crimes increase. The UK, France, Germany and the USA all observed rise in these crimes, thanks to these far-right groups that then express solidarity with one another. A culmination of this solidarity was the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 (read more); the second day of the rallies had clashes between protesters and counterprotesters; one in the latter side-- Heather Heyer-- was killed by white nationalist Alex Fields, Jr., after he rammed through the crowd. Earlier that year was the anti-immigrant riots in Ełk, Poland, which started from violence from a Tunisian immigrant and targeted kebab stalls (they took the anti-Bosniak meme "remove kebab" literally).

Far-right militants then publicly spewed their belief on the conspiracy theories of the "Great Replacement" and "white genocide". The perpetrator in the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue attacks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania accused Jews of collaborating with non-European immigrants against the will of the whites, thus the attack has both anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant nature. The following year, Brenton Tarrant published his manifesto named after Camus' theory, and drew inspirations from different sources such as the genocide of the Serbian neo-chetniks against Bosniak Muslims and Breivik's lone-wolf terror attack (read more). He then livestreamed his terrorism that killed 51 people in al-Noor Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand. More than 4 months later, in August 2019, the gunman in the El Paso shooting who killed 23 also cited the "Great Replacement" and praised Tarrant in the former's own manifesto, arguing that the Hispanics were destroying Texas' demographics.

Another conspiracy theory sprung up from the American far-right: a false prophet with the alias "Q" claims that a global Satanic cabal runs a child sex trafficking ring, controls the liberals and elites, and was conspiring against Trump. Numerous predictions were made, all of which failed-- the most notable ones are the dates of what is called "The Storm" (a chaotic battle where Trump's forces will win): the first one was the Election Day (03 November 2020), and when it did not happen, the second one was the inauguration of Trump's Democratic rival, Joe Biden (21 January 2021). "The Storm" did not also take place that time, but the belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory does not show itself as a force authorities can downplay. Take note of the Capitol Riots-- far right forces emboldened by Trump's calls for them to march to a global symbol of democracy (the Capitol) stormed the building as votes were being certified by Congress to officialise Biden's victory (read more). The country's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has perceived the movement prior as a domestic terror threat, yet the complicity (or even the consentive behaviour) of the Trump regime allowed this to proliferate and realise such threat.

 

The Western world might have failed in preempting the threat of the far right, after having reshaped for the past decades. What were acknowledged as fringe beliefs in 2011 infiltrated the minds of many members of the Western masses few years later. Now it is difficult to control this movement (that it even reached as far as Brazil, Burundi and Sri Lanka)-- acting so tight in a democratic environment would get the West accused of dictatorship and hypocrisy (though even current non-repressive measures are already labelled as non-democratic). And even though they do not believe in democracy, they abuse democracy for their movement to grow: a vulnerability of democratic systems.

What democratic authorities, support groups, other related organisations, and communities and individuals can do to safeguard democracy is to instil discipline, which is most effective in free and democratic environments, to practise and promote information literacy, to treat the maligned members of the masses as victims, and not spreaders, of demagogy, and to tackle all parts of the vicious cycle of poverty.

Then in no way can far-right (and far-left or even centrist) populism gain ground.

 

Article posted on 22 July 2021, 11:09 (UTC +08:00).


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