The Phenomenon of the European Far Right and Their Foreign Policy Positions

Аннотация

The article addresses two major issues. The first issue concerns the phenomenon of the European far right. The article argues that the "far right" is an umbrella term that refers to a broad range of ideologues, groups, movements and political parties to the right of the centre right. Fascism was the very first far-right ideology to have acquired worldwide significance. After the Second World War, fascism was discredited in Europe, but it - in the form of neo-fascism - survived in small West European movements and groups that still hoped for an ultranationalist revolution. Nevertheless, the West European post-war far right preferred to adapt to the new political environment rather than reject it. Hence, the post-war far right evolved into two major forms: (1) radical right-wing populist parties, which are the most common type of the far right today, and (2) the New Right that operates on the cultural and intellectual, rather than political, level. The second issue concerns foreign policy orientations of the European far right, and the article discusses these orientations through the prism of the attitudes of the far right towards globalisation, the USA, NATO, European integration, and Russia.