Western liberalism is in retreat -- a movement that began when Britain has opted to exit its long-time membership in the European Union. The toppling of "The Old Order" has reached the United States with the win of US President- Elect Donald Trump. It once again returns to Europe after French President Francois Hollande announced his disinterest in re-election and the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after losing a referendum aimed to introduce reforms within the government structure.
According to ITV.com political critic Robert Peston, the world's western leaders are "tumbling like dominoes" in developed nations. Peston said the idea that the "collapse of confidence that our children will be better off than us or than our own parents" is the fuel for 2016's "populist uprising." He claims that the "new western pessimism" now links all Western anti-establishment ideas to restore hope for the future that Peston claims is "easier said than done."
According to The New York times, European populism is timely this era of US President-Elect Donald Trump. In Italy, the Five Star Movement party is moving up as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has handed in his resignation. The party leans towards radical anti-establishment and anti-immigrant ideals -- the alternatives being almost all the same.
The NY Times post said that French politics is likely to lean towards similar sentiments following the popularity of The National Front -- the party also against globalization, the European Union, the Eurozone and even Islam. The Brexit had allowed former UK Home Secretary and now Prime Minister Theresa May to introduce and approve the Investigatory Powers Bill, which allows legal mass surveillance on all Britons -- an idea born from increasing terror attacks where early intervention could have prevented events.
Analysts also believe the increasing threat of ISIS and terrorist cells worldwide has forced many to embrace populist ideas. Perceiving former institutions incapable of containing the threat, new radical ideas from right-wing parties have become useful for up and coming politicians.
