Agreeing on Little, Understanding One Another Less: European Populist Attitudes towards Atlanticism

Abstract

The post-World-War Two era is permeated by events that have shaped the Europe/US nexus leading to the conclusion that a Kantian Europe sits uneasily with a Hobbesian America. Within recent years, a noticeable spike in populism has become more prevalent within Europe. Populist party sentiment, on both the left and right, offers common critiques of what are regarded as globalist institutions and dynamics. Criticism is often levelled at the United Nations, the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, for example, as well as immigration, multiculturalism and elitist rule. However, an under-explored focus is on how European populist parties view the United States. Left-of-centre populism naturally views the US with suspicion, but it is right-wing groups that have become more common. This presentation overviews some important pro- and anti-Atlantic European views that help shape our understanding of European populism and contributes to the literature on populist foreign policy.