American Right, Alt-Right, New Right…and Fascism?

Not there yet, but on the road to it.

There is a fascinating article over on the Guardian’s site by Cas Mudde, “Surprised to see US Republicans cozying up to the European far right? Don’t be.”* Mudde is a Dutch political scientist who writes for the Guardian on Far Right and American issues. He is also a professor at the University of Georgia. 

In this piece, Mudde writes about the confusing, but surprisingly close connections between American Republicans and European “national conservatives,” some of whom look very much like proto-Fascists. He notes, for example, that Ted Cruz recently addressed via video link some kindred souls in Spain’s Vox Party, a frankly Integralist new political party that seeks to unite Rightists everywhere in the Spanish-speaking world.

However, Mudde says that we needn’t worry too much about a tight partnership between American reactionaries and European quasi-fascists. For one thing, the American right, he says, is still far too insular. It thinks it has the solutions to every problem, and so sees no need to work closely with European allies.

That is a reassuring thought. Let’s hope that this is one place where the Ugly American, self-important and cocksure, works for us instead of against us.

~mjt

*Source: “Surprised to see US Republicans cozying up to the European far right? Don’t be,”

Cas Mudde, the Guardian, Oct. 15, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/15/us-republicans-european-far-right