I'm reading more and more messages from the conservative movement that are heading in directions I can't agree with.<\/p>\n
A speech that forgets our recent history<\/big><\/p>\n I read the latest of these this afternoon. It's an editorial in The European Conservative<\/a>, a website I've been following with great interest for some time. In it, Mick Hume, the editor-in-chief of the aforementioned website, speaks of the \"the overdue end of the old world order.\"<\/em><\/strong> Referring to Trump and Vance's ambush of Zelensky in the White House, Hume adds:<\/p>\n \"In tearing up the accepted etiquette of diplomacy on live TV, President Trump also signalled to allies and enemies alike that the established rules and conventions of international relations no longer apply<\/strong>. The question is now, what comes next?<\/p>\n For 35 years since the end of the Cold War, we have been assured by Western experts and political elites that the globalist world order had brought the end of history<\/strong>, the end of major international conflicts, and the end of the importance of national sovereignty.<\/strong>\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This analysis overlooks the fact that in the 1990s, Europe was ravaged by wars in the former Yugoslavia<\/strong>, in which atrocities were committed that had not been seen on this continent since World War II precisely because of nationalist fanaticism. Beyond Europe, the Middle East has periodically been ravaged by attempts to destroy the State of Israel<\/strong>, while several African countries have suffered terrible civil wars. Even today, there are serious armed conflicts in Ethiopia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and several countries in the Sahel<\/strong>, due to Islamist terrorism.<\/p>\n The confusion between 'anti-globalist' dogmas and reality<\/big><\/p>\n After criticizing international organizations such as the UN, the IMF, the WHO, and the EU, Hume adds: \"Over the past decade, however, we have witnessed a growing gap between globalist claims and the real world.<\/strong> The old U.S.-led unipolar order has been challenged by the emergence of regional blocs with the rise of China, India, and Russia.<\/strong>\"<\/em> Hume also notes the following:<\/p>\n \"There has been an upsurge of insurrectionary national populist parties across Europe and around the globe, a revolt against the globalist elites<\/strong> as people demand that their interests are represented and their voices heard. Trump\u2019s shouting match with Zelensky sounded the death knell for a world order<\/strong> that has been dying on its feet anyway.\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It is a paradox to speak of a \"growing gap between globalist claims and the real world\"<\/em> and then to expose a clear confusion between \"antiglobalist\" dogmas and reality<\/strong>. Today, conservative parties only govern in three European countries: Italy, Hungary, and the Czech Republic<\/strong>. Of those three governments, only one, the Hungarian one, subscribes to positions like those Hume sets forth. The Italian and Czech governments are reformists, not anti-system.<\/strong><\/p>\n Once again, the speeches that attribute a single thought to 'the people'<\/big><\/p>\n If recent experience has taught me anything, it's that we must be wary of speeches that cite \"the people\" as the subject of their arguments<\/strong>. This is the kind of discourse we've heard for years from far-left parties like Podemos, and now we're also hearing it on the other side of the political spectrum. \"The people\" have very diverse ideas, which are reflected in political pluralism and in the results of the democratic elections<\/strong> held in different countries. This diversity of opinions is the hallmark of a democracy.<\/p>\n A 'national populist revolt' with Trump as its leader<\/big><\/p>\n Finally, Hume states this:<\/p>\n \"Europe\u2019s real hope still lies in the people<\/strong>, many of whom have shown that they have had enough of seeing their traditions and way of life rubbished by rulers who occupy another world. Our job now is to do all we can to advance the national populist revolt.<\/strong>\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Hume makes it clear at the end who his reference point for this \"revolt\" is: Donald Trump.<\/strong> Something that I find very curious, since in recent weeks and as everyone has been able to see, Trump has ignored the national sovereignty of Ukraine and has belittled the patriotism of its defenders<\/strong>, accusing that country of the Russian invasion and pressuring it to give in to the dictator Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n I have been denouncing the excesses of the UN and the EU for many years,<\/strong> and I will continue to do so, not out of any misgiving about the existence of international organizations, but because, as a liberal-conservative, I distrust all politicians and believe that limits should be placed on power,<\/strong> whoever wields it and no matter how well-intentioned they claim to be. This includes nationalists.<\/p>\n The words of Saint John Paul II on patriotism and nationalism<\/big><\/p>\n
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