- Electoral victories in the Netherlands, Argentina, and Slovakia highlight the rise of global conservative movements
- These victories reflect growing dissatisfaction with the global rules-based order, EU policies, and political elites
- Global conservative successes, like Brexit and Trump's election, suggest a broader shift towards nationalism and away from globalization
- The American Left relies heavily on the abortion issue, but concerns like illegal immigration, inflation, and foreign policy are eroding their support, making 2024 a challenging prospect for them
The landslide victory of the Dutch conservative movement, led by Geert Wilders, shows that voters are revolting against the global rules-based order that the Left values so much. Wilders actively campaigned on an anti-Brussels theme, even mentioning "Nexit," for the Netherlands to exit the E.U. His main campaign slogan was that he would severely restrict Muslim immigration to the small and wealthy European nation.
Last Sunday, voters in Argentina chose libertarian Javier Milei as their new president by a decisive 11.4-point margin. His campaign theme was directed at the political elite that has caused runaway inflation: "Out with all of them."
Six weeks ago, Robert Fico easily won in Slovakia after promising voters he would oppose E.U. sanctions on Russia, halt weapons shipments to Ukraine, and block its NATO membership application. All three positions are anathema to the Leftists in Brussels.
American Liberals, who may shrug off conservative electoral successes in other parts of the world by quoting former Democratic House Speaker Tip O'Neil's dictum that all politics is local, will do well to remember Brexit. On June 23, 2016, the Brexit referendum won 52-48, dealing a critical blow to the integrity of the E.U. Five months later, Americans surprised the world by electing Donald Trump, an avid nationalist, over the pro-globalization Hilary Clinton.
The American Left, however, does have a point. Abortion has been an outstanding issue to drive Democratic voters to the polls. Since the Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that abolished federal protections guaranteed under Roe v. Wade and returned the matter to the states, Democrats have won race after race on that single issue.
Many Independent voters who may be otherwise drawn to Trump detest his legal troubles and may turn against him if he is convicted. It is little wonder that the Left is employing aggressive lawfare tactics in local, state, and federal courts against the former president.
But the Biden administration has so badly squandered everything that the Left cannot hope to win in 2024 only on abortion. Illegal immigration is hurting cities badly. Record Bidenflation of 17% is squeezing family budgets . America's debt is climbing so fast that servicing it will consume 40% of all tax revenues. Our TIPP Poll consistently shows that Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
President Biden and his foreign policy team have been the worst disaster of any administration in memory. Nine months into his presidency, Biden ordered American troops to withdraw from Afghanistan on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. The process was so botched that thousands of Americans and over $80 billion of weapons were left behind. Thirteen brave servicemen and servicewomen were killed. America managed to hand over Kabul's reins to the very party that it had fought to evict from power, the Taliban, in 2001.
Two months later, Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan architected a needless policy to assure Ukraine that America would defend it if Russia were to attack. Rather than aggressively pursue peace talks and address Russia's concerns about blanket security agreements provided to Kyiv and its future absorption into NATO, Biden helped draw Russia into war.
$200 billion in Western arms shipments later, nearly a million people have died, and 13 million people have been displaced. Russia now controls more territory than it did before it attacked Ukraine, taking over the mineral-rich Donbas region. As Ukraine's counteroffensive stalls, any potential peace agreement would be on Moscow’s terms.
Away from the battlefield, since February 2022, the U.S. Treasury has implemented over 2,500 sanctions on Russia, nearly a quarter of all sanctions against all countries in the last 21 years. Russia has definitely suffered, but because of its land mass, rich resources, and technological might, it could weather American sanctions by stepping up trade with countries of the Global South. Many leaders in the world's capitals began to think: What would happen to smaller countries that attracted America's ire? The Biden policy of weaponizing the dollar using unilateral sanctions against Russia has had severe negative consequences for America's global standing.
Worse, policies to contain Russia through economic sanctions have been a disaster at the street level in the West. Europe, which had been plumbed to receive Russia's energy and commodities for over five decades, was forced by America to cut the cord. Prices shot up for everything in Europe, impoverishing ordinary citizens as interest rates climbed to combat inflation.
Biden's vision of teaming up with the EU to teach Russia a lesson for violating the rules-based international order has backfired. With Victor Orban in Hungary consistently towing the anti-EU line on Ukraine, two other countries in the bloc - the Netherlands and Slovakia - have leaders who can create headaches for the globalists at the 28-member E.U. table. And more trouble is in store.
In Germany, the conservative Alternativ for Deutschland (AfD) party is making remarkable electoral gains in state elections. An October Politico article cataloged AfD's successes as its popularity spreads from conservative East Germany further to the West: "The party recently elected Maximilian Krah as its top candidate for the E.U. elections. Krah believes that Europe must be turned into a “fortress” against migrants and that 80 percent of E.U. bureaucracy should be abolished. Also, decidedly pro-Russia, he is massively critical of the bloc’s focus on climate."
President Obama popularized the term "shellacked" to describe how the Democrats got routed in the 2010 midterm election. If history is a guide, 2024 would be another disaster for the American Left.
Related Infographics
