Nationalist conservatives from US, Europe gather, touting different view of democracy
During President Donald Trump鈥檚 first term, his former adviser Steve Bannon set himself up as a convener and catalyst for right-wing populists across Europe. He vowed to spread the MAGA revolution and to sweep aside centrist parties that he said had sold out to global capital. But his showy efforts to build a durable coalition of populist conservatives failed to pan out.
What has had more traction, though, is an intellectual-led movement to seed a particular brand of conservatism in Western democracies. National conservatives, or NatCons, prioritize the nation-state and safeguarding its traditions and culture over the promotion of democracy, free markets, and global alliances, marking a break with post-Reagan orthodoxy on the right. There is more appetite for state intervention in the economy. Falling birth rates are seen as a crisis.
The National Conservatism Conference, which started in 2019, has become an annual gathering of like-minded populists and nationalists from the U.S. and other democracies that takes place in Washington and European capitals. Now that Mr. Trump is back in the White House, its proponents wield power: Vice President JD Vance has been a regular speaker and attendee. , which starts Sept. 2, include Tom Homan, Mr. Trump鈥檚 border czar, and Russell Vought, his budget director. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, a NatCon regular who opposed the GOP鈥檚 cuts to Medicaid, is also speaking.
Why We Wrote This
National conservatives, or NatCons, elevate tradition and culture over liberal democracy. They gather this week for their national convention amid growing power in the U.S. and Europe.
albeit a powerful one, in Mr. Trump鈥檚 political coalition. The nationalist and populist right has been on an upswing in Europe, including in Germany, France, and the Netherlands. Reform UK, a party led by Trump ally and Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, who is speaking at this year鈥檚 NatCon, is leading the polls in the U.K. The even in smaller countries, like Portugal, which haven鈥檛 seen the large influx of migrants that NatCons see as a destabilizing force in larger countries.
Mr. Bannon鈥檚 efforts to unite Europe鈥檚 populist parties may have been too early. But the cross-fertilization of conservative thought at NatCon offers a parallel track in democracies that are facing similar social challenges, says Rusty Reno, a theologian and editor of First Things, a religious and cultural journal.
鈥淭he West is in a time of disintegration of institutions and loyalties. National conservatism prioritizes a shoring up and re-renewal of national solidarity, so it鈥檚 not surprising that you鈥檙e seeing the same impulses in different countries, although of course they take different forms,鈥� says Dr. Reno, who in 2022.
The parameters of national conservatism, and its policy prescriptions, are somewhat fuzzy, deliberately so. NatCon styles itself as a big-tent movement in which conservatives may differ on the public role of religion, for example, but not on the need for greater civic cohesion. It鈥檚 often easier to say what it鈥檚 against: mass migration, 鈥渨oke鈥� universities, Davos and other global power centers. Yoram Hazony, an Israeli-born scholar who helped start the conference, has called it an alliance of 鈥渁nti-Marxist liberals, 海角大神s, and nationalists.鈥�
Despite Dr. Hazony鈥檚 mention of liberals, the NatCon project is in many ways a repudiation of liberalism, particularly in economic and social policy, says Angelos Chryssogelos, an associate professor of politics and international relations at London Metropolitan University who studies populist ideologies. Instead, the focus is on building a new politics of conservatism that isn鈥檛 tethered to libertarian or socially liberal ideas.
Many national conservatives 鈥渉ave come to consider that liberal democracy as a system is probably not fit for purpose anymore, at least for the interests and the culture of the West, and they鈥檙e working towards creating some alternative,鈥� he says.
Populist movement keeps distance from Trump
Last July, Mr. Vance, who was about to be formally named as Mr. Trump鈥檚 running mate, . In his speech, he said the liberal belief that America is a nation based on abstract ideals and principles, such as the Declaration of Independence, was wrong. America, he said, is 鈥渁 group of people with a common history and a common future. If this movement is going to go anywhere, and if this country is going to thrive, we have to remember that America is a nation.鈥�
As vice president, Mr. Vance defended the far-right AfD party in Germany during national elections in February. who had sought to box the AfD out of power, a strategy that Mr. Vance derided. It was an example, say analysts, of how U.S. foreign policy, which had been anchored in the promotion of democracy and free markets, has morphed into the promotion of a MAGA social and political agenda.
Some conservative leaders in Europe felt uncomfortable with the more religious-right-infused policy of previous Republican administrations, says Eric Kaufmann, a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham in the UK. 鈥淭rump鈥檚 Republicanism is much closer to the populist right that we see in Europe, which is focused on immigration [and] secular and cultural conservative concerns, and not really about democracy promotion,鈥� he says.
That doesn鈥檛 mean populist parties are seeking his endorsement. 鈥淚t鈥檚 generally a liability outside the U.S. to be associated with Trump,鈥� says Professor Kaufmann, who spoke at NatCon in London in 2023 and is the author of several books on nationalism and identity. Even Mr. Farage, who campaigned last year with Mr. Trump, tries to play down their association.
In Canada鈥檚 election in April, seeking to unseat a struggling liberal government. Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who styled himself as a populist outsider, lost the election and his own parliamentary seat after Mr. Trump threatened Canada鈥檚 sovereignty and put tariffs on its trade-dependent economy.
This speaks to the tensions inherent in efforts to build bridges between conservative nationalists who all want to put their own country first. Tariffs have become a zero-sum battle in which the U.S. leverages its economic might, reminding voters in smaller democracies why belonging to the European Union, which nationalists attack as undemocratic, is advantageous.
It鈥檚 one reason why the organizers of NatCon have built a broad church for their movement that sidesteps 鈥渦ncomfortable questions鈥� about trade protectionism and relations with Russia, says Professor Chryssogelos.
鈥淎 politics of solidarity鈥�
As president, Mr. Trump than have most Democratic administrations, taking or seeking government stakes in private companies such as U.S. Steel and Intel, and . Trump administration officials have said the government could take stakes in other companies.
U.S. conservatives have traditionally lauded the unfettered free market as a source of U.S. strength and dynamism, in contrast to a leftist vision of state-led development that keeps capitalism in check. Conservative radio host as 鈥渟ocialism with an R next to its name.鈥�
Dr. Reno says policy unorthodoxy is what makes national conservatism a viable alternative to what he sees as excessive liberalism and economic openness that has hollowed out Western societies. Preserving social capital is more important than breakneck economic growth.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e pivoting towards a politics of solidarity, restored solidarity. And that鈥檚 why some aspects of the NatCon right seemed to look like the old left on economic policy,鈥� he says.
To Dr. Reno, Mr. Trump鈥檚 reelection was a victory for national conservatism, one that could shift the weight of political thought across the West toward a 鈥渞econsolidation鈥� of nations. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 run on limited government. He ran on 鈥楳ake America Great Again,鈥欌�� he says.
