A review of nationalism; are RN and Reform UK nationalist parties?
And if not, how will right wingers save their countries?
Our article for today focuses on 2 parties that made the headlines in various countries; Rassemblement National and Reform UK. Largely described as "far-right" by mainstream media, many dissidents tend to portray them as the most viable solution for their countries. While it's true that some of their proposals may pose valid requests for a nationalist, are they enough to bring about discernible change in their countries or will they follow suit the path of Meloni?
What is Nationalism?
According to the London-based Royal Institute for International Affairs which defined the nation states:
The ideal nation is one which (a) possesses characteristics distinguishing it clearly from others; (b) is free from external control, and sufficiently strong to maintain that freedom. One of the chief objects for which this freedom is required is the unrestrained enjoyment of the characteristics mentioned in (a); (c) acts as a single entity possessing interests and pursuing policies designed to promote those interests.
The Greek version of Metapedia offers a concrete definition of nationalism based on works of Herodotus:
Nationalism is a political ideology that advocates the exclusive devotion and love of people to their nation and their national identity, as well as the preservation of the national identity and the particular characteristics of the individuals of each nation, or an ethnopolitical ideology centred on the idea of the nation that seeks the establishment of an independent state. The term also expresses the absolute and passionate commitment of individuals to their nation, the expression and cultivation of a national conscience, the devotion of individuals to the nation to which they belong, without any tendency to disparage or disrespect another nation.
Dimitrios Vezanis, a Greek professor who contributed to the development of nationalist theory gave the following definition:
Nationalism is the symbol of a faith, of a complete worldview. And nationalists are the believers of this religion...In the ranks of the nationalists are not admitted those who merely believe and accept the idea of the nation, but only those who believe in it and are ready to realize it. And in this very point lies the difference between the mere nationalist and the nationalist...We believe in Socialism. Nationalism which gives such a prominent place to the whole and whose chief moral imperative says "sacrifice for the sake of the whole" can only want to exalt all those who have the honour of belonging to the Greek nation. But the socialism we want is radically different from the socialism of KKE (Communist Party of Greece). KKE says "grab and eat". We say "create and live". We want social justice. But we are not insane to want production to stop as the KKE people wanted...Production must not be maintained at its present level. It must be constantly increased to meet the needs of the people...It must become a common consciousness that real production is the production of material goods and real creative work is the work of the worker and the peasant. Administrative clerical services must be only those which are indispensable and must not be turned into parasites which will absorb the creative labour of the worker...Socialism for us is not achieved by taking certain measures such as, for example, the nationalisation of banks and enterprises, the general abolition of property, as the communists and leftists argue...It is naïve and childish to think that social happiness will be magically achieved with a one-two punch. Only through constant struggles and successive approaches will we come close to social happiness. And by struggles we are not talking about class struggles, but about an overall effort by the people and the state administration to constantly overcome the constant difficulties and unimaginable obstacles that capitalism puts up. Our inviolable condition is that Greek production must be maintained and increased. Any measure to reduce production is an anti-socialist and anti-national measure. The enormous gulf and the enormous difference which separates our Socialism from the Socialism of the Bolsheviks is that we want the workers to become lords while the Communists want the whole Greek people to become poorer, by the degradation not only of the prosperous but also of the workers and wage-earners. With what I have described to you, an undeniable conclusion emerges: Nationalism is not a reactionary movement, it is not a movement of the rich. Nationalism is a movement of the people par excellence...
While I personally have some disagreements with the professor's position, in particular regarding socialism's prevalence in the new system (I support a mixed economy with nationalistic orientations in trade and investments), I cannot stress enough how important it is to explain to the world that nationalism is a popular ideology. Nowadays, the left has largely adopted a liberal lifestyle with more emphasis placed on social issues while the conservative right is reluctant to criticise the flaws of the monetary or banking system.
With these definitions of nationalism in mind, we are going to discover how nationalist these 2 parties are. Most other definitions emphasise on the "divisive" character of nationalism and how having national pride can lead to undermining other cultures and nations, ignoring that there is another word for that term; chauvinism. This an imperialist form of nationalism which seeks to subjugate other identities and nations in order to create spheres of influence.
Rassemblement National; the continuous path of moderation
Since the party takeover by Marine Le Pen, Front National has initiated an effort to moderate its image. It altered many of its policies and expelled controversial members including Marine's father and former leader Jean Marie Le Pen. Let's understand how moderation unfolded.
In the first years, Le Pen took a firm position against neo-Nazi fringe elements in the party. She also tried to combat allegiations of antisemitism, instead targeting Islam for its contrast to the European values of tolerance. In 2014, her party got first place in the European Parliament elections, gaining the votes of people affected by the austerity programs of Sarkozy and Hollande. In 2015, she endorsed SYRIZA in the Greek elections as a sign of support for Eurosceptic political forces. Le Monde also highlighted her previous support for anti-globalisation movements. However, SYRIZA failed to deliver its electoral program and drag Greece out of austerity programs by succuming to EU pressure and signing the 3rd memorandum agreement on 13 July of the same year. This could have probaly shaped her new stances towards the EU and the Euro.
By 2017, FN had altered many of its policies regarding domestic affairs, on the road to the presidential elections. It rescinded the death penalty option and changed its opposition to abortion and homosexuality. It also moderated some of its economic positions. Le Pen advanced to the second round, in which she got 33.90% of the votes, eventually losing to Macron.
After the election loss, Florian Philippot, former vice president of the party, was blamed for his anti-EU sentiments, who quit and launched his own party; Les Patriotes. A year later, his former party changed its name to Rassemblement National.
In 2019 Le Pen dropped the policy of leaving the euro, while retaining the first position in the European Parliament elections.
In 2022, Le Pen disavowed her support for Vladimir Putin following the invasion of Ukraine. She subsequently advocated welcoming Ukrainian refugees. In that year's election, Le Pen won 41% of the votes in the 2nd round and gained more departments than five years ago. RN also performed well in the parliament by gaining 89 seats, culminating in a strong presence.
Under new leader Jordan Bardella, who assumed office in late 2022 and is of Franco-Algerian and Italian origin, the party has adopted more market-friendly views, calling for lower taxes while opposing new free trade treaties, which could endanger French interests. He also took part in a pro-Israel march in November 2023 alongside many liberal and centre-right politicians. In this year's elections, the party finished at the first position, reaching the chance of forming a government, but lost it despite getting the most votes.
Throughout the years, the only positions that RN has kept intact are the withdrawal from NATO integrated command and some sort of economic protectionism. You can cast your own thoughts whether they will be kept intact in the long run.
Reform UK; adjusting to the needs of a multiracial society
The party of Nigel Farage has emerged victorious from a largely predictable election on Thursday where the only questions were how many seats Labour would win and whether Reform would surpass the Tories. While Farage has established his name in the dissident right wing space, he has a Conservative background just like most of his party.
Some of you may be more experienced in British politics, so you could know about Nick Griffin, a prominent nationalist figure who headed the British National Party (BNP) between 1999 and 2014. Under his leadership, the party performed extremely well in European Parliament elections, rising from 1.1% in 1999 to 4.9% in 2004 and 6.3% in 2009 before dropping to 1.09% in 2014 after internal conflicts and losing momentum from the UK Independence Party (UKIP). The difference between the BNP and UKIP was that the BNP was a proper nationalist movement with clear goals and ideologies even after the exit from the EU, unlike UKIP, which hasn't caught up since 2019 when Farage launched his new party. Of course, like was previously said, internal issues and the rise of anti-EU instead of nationalist sentiment led to BNP's electoral downfall, but I am not an expert, so you could also add your own views.
So where does Reform UK stand in the political spectrum? I would argue that it's a mere copy of the Conservatives in pretty much everything. The only difference is that they want to crack down on illegal immigration, which has reached new heights under Sunak. Many of its prominent members, including Farage and former party leader, have been members of the Tories. Richard Tice on his website states he has donated to Conservative campaigns. In terms of ethnic background, it has fielded Indian candidates who campaigned against Sunak's Hindu Manifesto and expelled candidates for racist remarks. Some of the latter candidates have also been members of the Tories. One of its candidates, who accused the party of racism and bigotry, even defected to the Tories some days before the election to increase media attention to the party.
Now let's read the statements of a Muslim businessman who made a generous donation to Farage's party:
In an interview with The Telegraph, which first reported the story of his donation, Mr Yusuf said: "I love Britain and I'm a patriot, a British Muslim patriot, which I believe the vast majority of Muslims in the UK are."
Mr Yusuf, who earned an estimated £31m from selling his luxury concierge app Velocity Black last year, told the BBC he believed "unsustainable" net migration levels were making it harder for legal migrants to integrate and overwhelming the NHS.
"We have lost control of our borders. That's my view. And I think it's an objective statement," he told the BBC.
In other words, immigration should not be halted but only brought back to "sustainable" levels so that everyone else can integrate more easily. This is the case of Reform UK, a party which imitates the Tories at every step.
Conclusion
In this analysis, we examined how RN and Reform UK vary and how they can be compared to nationalist principles. Both parties can be classified as conservative in modern politics; RN has done everything to moderate itself and appeal to traditional Gaullist voters and Reform UK hasn't even taken the nationalist label to be labeled as such. Both parties haven't questioned the deep flaws of modern liberalism and even RN who dared to make such assumptions dismissed them under Marine's leadership. Therefore, as for the question of whether they will follow suit the path of Meloni should they ever hold power, the answer is definitely yes.
To voters dissillusioned with liberal governments who would vote for such governments, I would still suggest to vote for them if there is no other alternative. It would be hard to convince typical voters to support a "far-right" party, so moderation is probably a common strategy among the right wing populist space. However, their incompetence in governing the country could probably awake more authentic nationalist parties as it is the case with Hungary's Mi Hazánk and Poland's Konfederacja.