Rising populism in West a threat to global order: Kenyan experts
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E-mail Xinhua, January 2, 2017
The unprecedented rise of populism in large parts of the West poses a grave threat to the multilateral system that has sustained global peace and prosperity, according to Kenyan scholars.
They warned in separate commentaries published by a local daily that 2017 could present new uncertainties in multilateral affairs due to the rise of far-right parties in the West that advocate isolationism and xenophobia.
Peter Kagwanja, CEO of a Nairobi-based pan-African think-tank Africa Policy Institute, said that growth of political movements in the West that espouse radical ideologies is a mortal threat to world peace and stability.
"The year 2016 will be remembered as the year when right-wing populism broke the seams and forcibly returned on the world stage to haunt the global liberal order," said Kagwanja.
He noted that Britain's vote to disengage itself from the European Union and presidential victory of Donald Trump in the United States have emboldened far-right political ideologies in many parts of the world.
The scholar warned that the divisive rhetoric from U.S. President-elect would undermine Africa's young democracies that are on the verge of a leap into an industrial era.
"Trump's wedge politics based on ethno-nationalism is likely to inject a divisive and violent tinge into Africa's nascent democracies, and undermine their stability," Kagwanja said.
The wave of nationalism in the West may undermine global diplomacy and efforts to tackle pressing challenges like poverty, disease, terrorism, climate change and inequality, according to him.
He also noted that the global financial markets are in peril unless the rising tide of nationalism in the west is contained.
Macharia Munene, a Nairobi-based international relations scholar, warned that far-right political movements in the West could shrink the influence of multilateral institutions like the United Nations.
He predicted a blatant disrespect for international law and norms by the incoming U.S. administration, which will in turn undermine action on global security threats like terrorism, climate change, illegal migration and violent conflicts.
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