Polls show that the COVID-19 crisis, and particularly the EU’s more than hesitant response to it, has soured Italians’ views of the European Union. In no country in Europe has COVID-19 claimed more victims than in Italy. Similarly, nowhere in Europe has the radical populist right benefitted more from the pandemic than in Italy. At… Continue reading “How the European Union Lost Italy to the Radical Right”
With several parties in Italy competing on the right and far right, Valerio Alfonso Bruno and James F. Downes look at the recent growth in support for Fratelli d’Italia. They argue that this party is building domestic support, along with a network of contacts of likeminded populist radical-right actors globally, which demonstrates the increased mainstreaming of populist radical-right ideas in… Continue reading “The case of Fratelli d’Italia: how radical-right populists in Italy and beyond are building global networks”