PopulistFP · The Populist Politics of Foreign Policy
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-07-01 → 2020-09-30
- EU contribution
- €140,584
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
The Populist Politics of Foreign Policy
Politics in European countries has become more polarized with issues like European integration and immigration becoming more important in domestic politics, and nationalism reasserting itself. European populist radical right (EPRR) parties with Eurosceptic and anti-globalization agendas have surged, clashing with the ideals of European integration. This has been illustrated by Brexit and by the electoral success of radical right parties across the EU. Transnational studies of European identity show a divide over what Europe stands for: whether a beacon of universal democracy and human rights, or a distinct ‘Christian’ or ‘Judeo-Christian’ civilization, defined not least in opposition to threats – real or perceived – from the Islamic world. This project explores the impact of these changes on foreign policy debates in Britain, France and Germany. It builds on the premise that these changes greatly weaken the consensus around shared values and the national role which used to define debates around foreign policy. Rising radical right parties emphasize the notion of sovereignty, meaning the belief that no authority should supersede that of the nation state. They oppose an international ‘globalism’ shifting power to international institutions. This not only underpins opposition to European integration but a wider view of international politics. For example, they question the idea of a Western political alliance based on liberal-democratic values; they are ambivalent regarding international human rights; and they are opposed to overseas intervention where there is no direct implication for the ‘national interest’. The rise of EPRR parties not only polarizes national debates on foreign policy, but challenges the values on which both European integration and the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy are based. The objective of this project is to determine how these new rifts, and especially the rise of radical right parties, are impacting how politicians in Europe respond to foreign policy challenges. The approach is to focus on the discourse and influence of EPRR opposition parties in Europe’s most powerful states: Germany, Britain and France.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The emergence of new political cleavages and the increasingly polarized nature of political debate in democracies have profound implications for the politics of foreign policy decision making. International issues are becoming more salient in domestic politics. Meanwhile, rising populist parties on both left and right use international affairs to differentiate from mainstream parties and harness widespread public hostility towards the consequences of globalization. This suggests that partisan debates on foreign policy may be becoming more polarised. States may therefore find it increasingly difficult to pursue coherent foreign policy agendas, and it may be all the more difficult for the EU to build and sustain a coherent Common Foreign and Security Policy. Indeed, studies of European identity have highlighted a distinct divide across the EU over what Europe stands for: whether a beacon of universal democratic and human rights values, or a distinct ‘Judeo-Christian civilization’. Yet we lack a comparative picture of how the changing nature of political contestation in EU member state shapes how foreign policy questions are addressed by politicians and political parties. This project will fill this gap with a comparative analysis of partisan debates in Britain, France and Germany over intervention against the Assad regime, including in-depth interviews in each country, and comparing the results to a previous study of partisan debates over intervention in the Balkans in the 1990s. Through the project the ER will gain new skills in European politics, comparative politics, and systematic qualitative analysis, laying the groundwork for a career uncovering the changing politics of foreign policy, with outputs of significant value to scholars and practitioners.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON · LONDONCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union