Only respect for the ‘left behind’ can turn the populist tide | Timothy Garton Ash

It’s not just economic disadvantage that is powering the rise of rightwing nationalism in Europe and the US

To those premature pundits who assured us that the global populist wave was already receding, Germany has just delivered an enormous raspberry. In one of the most prosperous countries in the world, with the strongest possible taboo on xenophobic, rightwing nationalism (A Hitler) and an existential commitment to European integration, one out of every eight voters has turned to a xenophobic, Eurosceptic, rightwing populist party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). One lesson to be learned is this: if we are to combat populism, we must understand that its deep driving forces are as much cultural as economic.

Of course there’s an economic component, even in Germany. Not all Germans are driving around in BMWs and contemplating their second holiday in Mallorca. Yet the economic motive is much less salient than it was in the votes for Donald Trump and Brexit. In a poll conducted for the German television channel ARD, 95% of AfD voters cited threats to “the German language and culture”.

Related: Merkel faces tough coalition talks as nationalists enter German parliament

Continue reading...