All quiet on the populist front?
After Donald Trump was voted out, international populists cleverer than him continue their assaults on democracy
By Jan-Werner Mueller
Liberals around the world are daring to hope that there is a silver lining to the violent denouement of former US president Donald Trump’s tenure: Namely, that the inciter-in-chief’s ignominious exit from the political stage would chasten authoritarian populists elsewhere.
Unfortunately, their optimism is naive. Contrary to the cliche about a populist “wave” sweeping the world in the past few years, the rise and fall of populist leaders tends not to have significant transnational effects. Just as there is no honor among thieves, there was no solidarity among the supposed “Populist International” when it really mattered.
Hungary has signed an agreement with Russia to buy two million doses of the Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccine, the first European Union country to purchase the Russian immunization serum.