Europe continues to lag behind the Great Powers as emerging powers catch up.
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.
The growth of the right-wing in Europe is a political fact that left-liberal elites will have to come to terms with, following the news that so-called populist and right-wing parties are leading in polls in three powerful European countries. This occurs in the context of the European Union and Britain increasingly lagging behind developments in the United States, China, and Russia, while emerging powers continue to rise.
For the first time in modern history, populist and so-called "anti-establishment" parties are leading in polls in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, The Wall Street Journal reported. In the UK, Nigel Farage's Reform party is the most popular; in France, Marine Le Pen's National Rally party is leading; and in Germany, it is the Alternative for Germany (AfD). These are movements that differ from one another, but their basic idea is the resovereignization of European states, with the growing inspiration behind this change being United States President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement.
"Unlike the US, however, much of Europe has almost no economic growth, fueling a widespread sense that the continent faces years of drift, as well as political gridlock. The sense of economic decline together with rapid immigration is a toxic combination that has turned many voters against established political parties," said former French diplomat Jérémie Gallon to The Wall Street Journal.
European societies are deeply divided in social, class, and sometimes even religious terms, so this may be the last historical moment for Europe. Unfortunately, since World War II, Europe has lost its authentic role in international politics and has instead followed Washington's interests loyally, rather than its own.
After the end of the Cold War, there were serious ideas within Europe to liberate itself from American influence. However, due to the betrayal of European political and business elites, this did not happen. Now, Europe has been paying a high price in recent years for not utilizing the end of the Cold War in the only way possible: to affirm itself as an independent geopolitical and historical entity.
Europe can only regain some of its own, relatively speaking, political and historical identity by strengthening sovereignist forces. This wave of resovereignization will be a new political reality that, of course, will not please the left-liberal elites. It cannot be overlooked that the majority of European citizens enjoyed social, economic, and cultural prosperity. Nonetheless, after years of illegal immigration, economic stagnation, and a cost-of-living crisis, left-liberalism has largely been relegated to the dustbin of history, especially since the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
Left-liberal elites will undoubtedly try to prevent the penetration of the authentic will of their country's citizens through a series of administrative measures, such as court decisions and other similar means. This has the potential to spark political upheavals within those societies.
The wave of resovereignization is an unstoppable process in Europe, which will unfold much faster than most people expect. Europe has no more time to waste, as it is simply losing the global competition with other great powers. Europe is under tremendous pressure from the US politically, and technologically, it is increasingly lagging behind China, India, and Russia. At the same time, other powers, such as Brazil and Indonesia, continue to rise economically.
Europe also lacks sufficient natural resources, and there is also the issue of demographic renewal and birth rates. Additionally, there are enclaves, a result of the migrant crisis, that are geographically located in Europe but actually belong to other cultures and civilizations. When all of this is considered, the last moment is for Europe to try to protect its interests in the most practical and effective political way possible - for the sovereignist parties to win elections and wean off American influence.
France's National Rally has been leading in the polls all year, while in the UK, the Reform Party has been growing strongly in the last six months and now leads the ruling Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives. In Germany, the AfD has been in a head-to-head race with Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling Christian Democrats since the beginning of the year, and in recent weeks has moved into the lead. With Giorgia Meloni and Viktor Orban ruling in Italy and Hungary, respectively, in addition to the populist PVV party's upset win in the 2023 Dutch parliamentary elections, there is evidently a political shift occurring in Europe, and the left-liberal elites must come to terms with it.