Donald Trump’s meteoric rise to power was
totally unexpected and shocking to many experts, yet it revealed that there is
a skyrocketing demand all across the world for new faces and new approaches to
global politics.
The firebrand billionaire and
President-elect is renowned for his politically incorrect frankness and
unconventional behavior, but Americans aren’t the only people who are
attracted to this type of leadership. The Philippines,
for example, voted to elect Rodrigo Duterte earlier this year, an
outspoken politician who has many stylistic similarities to Trump, and
France is gearing up for a fierce presidential election in which
Marine Le Pen might conceivably emerge as the winner.
Austria
only narrowly voted against its own version of Donald Trump earlier
this month, but Hungary and Poland already have theirs with Orban and
Warsaw’s “Gray Cardinal” Kaczynski. Everywhere that one looks, it seems
like right-wing conservative politicians are on the rise, especially
those whom “experts” thought had a long shot at winning such
as Duterte and Trump.
Since the American President-elect is the
most striking symbol of this trend, it’s only right that it’s referred
to as the “Trump Effect” and that the world wonders where it will lead
over the next four to eight years.
Igor Pellicciari, professor, Higher School
of Economics in Moscow and LUISS University in Rome (studio
guest) and Jan Van Benthem, foreign commentator at the Nederlands Dagblad
(The Netherlands Daily) commented on the issue.
