The rise of right-wing political parties globally culminated in the emergence of Trump 2.0. The trend began with the formation of the BJP-led government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.

Two years later, Donald Trump won the 2016 US presidential election. He could not then pursue unchecked his White supremacist and isolationist MAGA (Make America Great Again) agenda. His experienced and relatively balanced advisers constrained him. The COVID outbreak eventually tripped him. However, his 2024 victory, combined with the Republican Party’s control of both houses of Congress, as well as a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court majority, allows full play to his authoritarian instincts. Consequently, within the first 100 days, he has undermined American soft power and emboldened right and far-right forces globally.

It was unimaginable for a US vice president to openly encourage the AfD (Alternative for Germany), a neo-Nazi political organisation in Germany, before German parliamentary elections. That is precisely what JD Vance did. MAGA supporters have uninhibitedly supported European organisations opposing the European Union support for Ukraine or policies encouraging diversity and inclusiveness. A natural corollary is their anti-immigration agenda.

This political interference has been extended to sub-Saharan Africa for some time. American evangelical Christian groups have been courting Africa’s Christian right. Recently, a “Pan-African Conference on Family Values” in Nairobi targeted abortion, homosexuality and gender debate. Unsurprisingly, president William Ruto of Kenya and prime minister........

© Free Press Journal