The view from MARS: US paleoconservatism and ideological challenges to the liberal world order

Abstract

Challenges to the liberal international order have tended to focus on the politics of populism most often traced to reactions against economic dislocation and mass migration. Parts of this portrait are undoubtedly true, but it also risks being deeply misleading. To fully understand the nature and depth of contemporary far-right movements, we need to examine more closely the distinctive ideological movements that inform and animate them. This article explores one specific articulation of these movements: US paleoconservatism. Although relatively unknown in the mainstream media, this anti-establishment strain of radical conservatism has provided intellectual ammunition to a wide range of agents and ideological forces challenging the prevailing liberal order nationally and internationally, including important parts of the anti-liberal politics of foreign policy under President Donald Trump.

From critique to reaction: The new right, critical theory and international relations

“…10 Francis and his paleoconservative colleagues did not share this dismissal. On the contrary, they saw working class mobilization, spurred by economic insecurity and cultural resentment within the white, industrial working class, as a potential catalyst for a radical conservative challenge to the liberal order (Drolet and Williams, 2019). The goal thus became to provide an analysis of liberal cultural power and its weaknesses, and to construct a cultural strategy-a political identity and ideology-capable of mobilizing those groups into a counter-hegemonic force.…”

1989 as a mimetic revolution: Russia and the challenge of post-communism

“…Its very attractiveness turned into a ‘fatal conceit’ to use Hayek’s term, and for prominent liberals such as John Rawls, Richard Rorty and even Habermas the triumph of late twentieth century liberalism was justified not because it had been theoretically, or even practically, validated, but because it had won the Cold War. Even when not specifically mentioned, the liberal historicism of ‘end of history’ thinking underlays this expansive discourse (Drolet & Williams, 2019: 28). The pretensions of the ‘liberal delusion’ were punctured on the rocks of geopolitical and civilization contestation (Mearsheimer, 2018).…”

The International Activity of Ordo Iuris. The Central European Actor and the Global Christian Right

“…According to the GCR, the coalition of socialists, feminists and ecologists is inspired by Marxism. It strives to spread secularism and create a new world order (Drolet and Williams 2019;Buss and Herman 2003, pp. 35-44).…”

“…Meanwhile, referring to religion and traditional values while interpreting human rights helps to protect civilisational diversity (Stoeckl and Medvedeva 2018). This is just one example of how the GCR uses the main concepts of liberal discourse in order to oppose the liberal agenda (Drolet and Williams 2019). GCR organisations have created a counterhegemonic discourse in which they present themselves as protectors of the persecuted minority of believers, and, as such, they stand for the true spirit of democratic pluralism heavily curtailed by the leftists and their disingenuous political correctness (Marczewski 2018).…”

“…The GCR talks about the rule of law and freedom of speech. Finally, it emphasises the need to defend state sovereignty as a necessary condition of protecting the traditional family from the pressure of the international liberal coalition (Drolet and Williams 2019;Buss and Herman 2003). One of the bêtes noires of the leftist global agenda is George Soros, who, with his projects all over the world, works behind the scenes and catches nation states off guard (Marczewski 2018, p. 53).…”