Right-wing populists and technocrats in Europe and the USA: the question of peace, political strategies and ways of international turbulence

This article analyzes the phenomenon of right-wing populism in Europe and the United States through the prism of the crisis of the neoliberal model of globalization and the transformation of the contemporary international system. The work covers the period from 2014 to November 29, 2025. This study draws from a constructivist approach, interpreting political processes as the result of interactions among ideas, discourses, and political actors that shape new political identities and models of political legitimacy. The article reveals that the rise of right-wing populist movements reflects a broader reaction to the declining effectiveness of the liberal-technocratic consensus. This consensus is accompanied with growing social inequality, weakening cultural pluralism, and the erosion of liberal institutions of liberal institutions of perception and communication between governments and communities. The study pays special attention to the relationship between domestic factors, such as middle-class frustration, migration and value conflicts, xenophobia, and security crises, and external factors, such as shifts in the global balance of political power, regionalization, and intensifying geopolitical rivalry. The analysis focuses on the period after 2022, when international turbulence increased significantly following the start of Russia’s special military operation aimed at protecting the population of Donbas, as well as thedemilitarization, denazification, and diplomatic neutralization of Ukraine. The article pays great attention to the consequences of Donald Trump’s return to the presidency of the United States. This provoked diffusion of power between technocratic and right-wing populist elites and accelerated the political legitimization of populist movements in both Europe and the United States. The article substantiates that even if right-wing populists consolidate power in the United States and Europe, it cannot guarantee a fundamental transformation of the world order. The work concludes that the future evolution of right-wing populism will shape structural changes in the global political system and define the trajectory of political turbulence and debates over the boundaries of democracy in the twenty-first century.

1. Mudde, C., & Kaltwasser, C. R. (2017). Populism: A very short introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 131 p. (In English).

2. Hicks, J. D. (1931). The Populist Revolt: A History of the Farmers’ Alliance and the People’s Party. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 487 p. (In English).

3. Hofstadter, R. (1955). The Age of Reform. – New York, Knopf, 330 p. (In English).

4. Shils, E. A. (1954). Populism and the Rule of Law. In: University of Chicago Law School Conference on jurisprudence and Politics, Chicago, pp. 99-107. (In English).

5. Betz, H.-G. (1994). Radical Right-Wing Populism in Western Europe. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 226 p. (In English).

6. Taggart, P. A. (1996). The New Populism and the New Politics: New Protest Parties in Sweden in a Comparative Perspective. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 223 p. (In English).

7. Freeden, M. (2001). Conclusion: ideology – balances and projections. In: Reassessing political ideologies: the durability of dissent, London; New York: Routledge, pp. 193-209. (In English).

8. Mudde, C. (2004). Populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition, 39(4), pp. 541-563. (In English).

9. Laclau, E. (2005). On Populist Reason. London: Verso, 276 p. (In English).

10. Weinstein, G. I. (2013). Populism in modern Europe: new trends. World economy and international relations, (12), pp. 24-33. (In Russ.).

11. Magun, A. (2014). The protest movement of 2011-2012 in Russia: the New populism of the middle class. Stasis, 2(1), pp. 192-226. (In Russ.).

12. Tomin, L. V. (2015). Ideology of populism in the political process in Ukraine. Social and humanitarian knowledge, (12), pp. 153-166. (In Russ.).

13. Shakleina, T. A. (2021). Donald Trump and “New Populism” in America. Polis. Political Studies. (5), рр. 176-183. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2021.05.12

14. Sokolshchik, L. M. (2024). Trumpism as a right-populist phenomenon: effects on foreign policy. History and Modernity, (4), pp. 3-12. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.30884/iis/2024.04.01

15. Shevchenko, E. S. (2025). US foreign policy towards the countries of the European Union at the present stage: political dialogue or systemic crisis? PolitBook, (1), pp. 22-40. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.24412/2227-1538-2025-1-22-40

16. Tishchenko, R. R. (2025). The "Right-Populist Minimum" of Socio-Political Movements of the 2020s. In: Russia and the World in the First Quarter of the 21st Century: Political Results and Prospects. Moscow, pp. 727-728. (In Russ.).

17. Batyuk, V. I. (2025). Entering 2025: prospects for Russian-American relations in the assessments and forecasts of American experts. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriia XXV. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniia i mirovaia politika, 17(2), pp. 87-112. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.48015/2076-7404-2025-17-2-87-112

18. Petrov, I. I. (2025). European tripolar space and the beginning of Donald Trump’s second presidential term. Actual Problems of Europe, (2), pp. 43-65. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31249/ape/2025.02.03

19. Lunkin, R. N., & Filatov, S. B. (2025). Trump's victory and the prospects of identity in Europe. Modern Europe, 3(131), pp. 90-103. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31857/S0201708325030088