Soon after the Trump election in 2016 and with increases in populism in developed countries becoming more apparent, I began a study called “Populism: The Phenomenon.” That highlighted for me how gaps in wealth and values led to deep social and political conflicts in the 1930s that are similar to those that exist now. It also showed me how and why populists of the left and populists of the right are more nationalistic, militaristic, protectionist, and confrontational—and what such approaches led to.
