The Alternative for Germany shares Trump’s ideas, but national interest pushes it to be anti-American

The rise of populist parties and the AfD’s electoral successes signify that the party system and ideological pattern of European politics are unraveling, not that Europeans are generally shifting to the right. This conclusion follows from the reasoning in an article by Jeffrey Gedmin, ex-president of the Aspen Institute in Berlin and former CEO of Free Europe/Radio Liberty, that appeared on the website of Atlantic Council, a U.S. think tank.

Jeffrey Gedmin notes that European right-wing populists are forced to backlash against the claims on Europe from Trump, an ideological ally of theirs.

The bullying of Europe over Greenland struck the AfD’s nerve. AfD co-chair Alice Weidel stated that the Trump administration had broken its pledge to swear off interfering in the affairs of other countries. Weidel’s co-chair Tino Chrupalla denounced American ‘Wild West methods,’ even though JD Vance had met Weidel – while declining to meet with Germany’s sitting chancellor – at last year’s security conference.

In France, National Rally leader Jordan Bardella suggested reconsidering the 2025 Turnberry agreement on US-EU trade. The Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage stated: ‘To use economic threats against the country that’s been considered to be your closest ally for over a hundred years is not the kind of thing we would expect.’

The new European populism’s sources of discontent are similar to those of Trump’s supporters. Voters are concerned about migrants in their countries. From this flowed the rest, including economic anxiety and increasing concerns about the preservation of tradition, sovereignty, national cohesion and identity.

The new populists cast themselves as decidedly antiglobalist and spoke to those who felt left out and left behind by free trade, by rapid and radical change in technology, and by what they characterized as doctrinaire progressivism in social policy.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a party founded in 2013, focused on economics, and driven chiefly by euroskepticism and nostalgic Deutsch Mark nationalism. Its supporters are a ‘collecting bowl’ of disaffected conservatives worried about the future of the German economy as they grapple with rapid and disorienting social and cultural change as well.

The party is a peculiar hybrid. For one thing, it is pro-Trump but in some ways essentially anti-American in spirit. German conservatives of a certain stripe have always looked down on what they see as the hedonism, superficiality, and unreliability of the Americans. This goes back to legendary publisher Axel Springer, who saw the Americans as necessary in the fight against communism but at the same time a crude and fairly uncultured lot.

To be sure, the AfD will want to tilt Germany toward Russia and away from the United States.

Then there is the subject of Israel. Today’s AfD is pro-Israeli but framed anti-Semitic. AfD respects the resolve of the current Israeli government. It shares the Israeli government’s dislike and distrust of Muslims.

On the other hand, multiple German Jewish organizations have issued public appeals warning of anti-Semitic trends in the AfD. Its leader Alexander Gauland stirred controversy in summer 2018 when he minimized the Holocaust.

When an old system of ideologemes and party programs lies in ruins, new political players like the AfD offer voters answers to topical questions. And this happens on both sides of the Atlantic.

Original publication: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/the-right-wing-takes-aim-at-the-eus-linchpin/