Populism, Globalization, and Geopolitics

The global economy after the Great Recession has experienced a notable “de-globalization”: a proliferation of policies slowing or scaling back international economic integration, and a shortening of global value chains. Simultaneously, the same period has been characterized by a rise of populist politics in advanced industrialized democracies. This chapter discusses the connections between the two phenomena in light of existing literature and qualitative evidence, particularly from European countries that have been governed by populist parties. First, it examines to what extent populism has been a response to perceived excesses or inequities created by an earlier push toward international economic integration. Second, it seeks to assess to what extent the observed “de-globalization” is a result of policies advanced by populist politicians favouring domestic interests at the expense of a commitment to an integrated global economy. There is a degree of plausibility to both of these causal accounts, but in each case important qualifications are necessary.