A braver Tory leader than Badenoch would dare to call out Farage's bogus patriotism | Rafael Behr

"That is also the view taken in the new White House national security strategy, published last week. The authors identify civilisational erasure by mass migration as a threat to American interests. To counter it, they propose cultivating resistance within European nations. That means meddling in other countries' domestic politics to boost those extreme nationalists paranoiacs posing as patriots who want to sabotage continental cooperation."

"He wants many small European clients, not one big economic competitor. Promoting far-right parties that will send nationalist wreckers to Brussels advances that goal. So does tacit encouragement of Russian interests in Ukraine. Washington is impatient to get a lopsided peace deal over the line, and to normalise commercial relations with a Kremlin regime that machinates ceaselessly to undermine stability and solidarity among European democracies."

"This all means there is a vacancy for a Maga stooge in Britain. Donald Trump can do some business with Keir Starmer, but there is no affinity of belief or shared cupidity with a Labour prime minister. The obvious partner would be Nigel Farage. The Reform UK leader oversells his intimacy with the US president's entourage, but he is a stronger candidate for patronage than Kemi Badenoch,"

European democracies host radical anti-immigration parties ranging from fringe to mainstream, and white supremacists regard liberal institutions as part of a conspiracy to replace Europeans. The new White House national security strategy frames mass migration as civilisational erasure threatening American interests and advocates cultivating resistance within European nations by meddling in domestic politics to empower extreme nationalists. The strategy targets the EU because a unified European bloc complicates US trade objectives; promoting far-right parties and encouraging Russian influence in Ukraine aims to fragment European cooperation and normalise relations with the Kremlin. This approach increases the likelihood of US support for nationalist British figures over mainstream politicians, undermining collective European strength.

Read at www.theguardian.com