Nationalist-Populism in the Global South and Middle East

Abstract

This chapter deals with nationalist-populism in the global south. The term “global south,” refers to states, many of which are less-developed in the southern hemisphere. This vast region harbors both left-wing and right-wing populists with traits similar to populists in the United States, Europe, and Great Britain such as extreme nationalism, dislike of globalization, anti-liberal and authoritarian tendencies, and preoccupation with identity politics. We look at populism’s spread by region and then in particular countries. Hence, we start with right-wing and left-wing populism in Latin America, emphasizing its evolution from Peronism in Argentina, Cuba under the Castros, anti-American under Hugh Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil and a later Trumpist version in Jair Bolsonaro as well as brief discussions of Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, Bolivia’s Evo Morales, and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa. We then turn to Asia where nationalist-populist leaders in China, the Philippines, Myanmar, and India and leaders such as Xi, Duterte, Aung San Suu Kyi. and Narendra Modi have fostered populism in reaction to Muslim minorities, and Iran where dominant Shia Muslims Persians dominated Sunni and Arab minorities. We conclude by looking at the nationalism of Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s, and Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu were nationalist-populists.

Questions

Multiple Choice

• 1. Unlike the United States, Latin American populism was dominated by which of the follow groups, at least until Jair Bolsonaro assumed office in Brazil?

  • a. Alt-Right

  • b. Leftist

  • c. Neo-Nazis

  • d. Classic Liberals

• 2. What Argentinian group increasingly became a massive workers’ party, determined to eliminate poverty?

  • a. Republicans

  • b. Stalinist

  • c. Military Establishment

  • d. Peronistas

• 3. Fidel eliminated other political parties and politicians, developing a socialist state under communist rule that emphasized economic equality, and created a ______ party system?

  • a. One

  • b. Two

  • c. Multiple

  • d. Zero

• 4. Leftwing populist Hugo Chávez led a socialist political movement, named after a nineteenth-century leader of an independence movement from Spain called what?

  • a. Columbus Revolution

  • b. Francesco Revolution

  • c. Bolivarian Revolution

  • d. Garcian Revolution

• 5. Hugo Chavez established a constitution that imposed a socialist economy for Venezuela that was paid for with which of the following?

  • a. Oil revenue

  • b. Arms sales

  • c. Foreign Investment

  • d. Mineral trade

• 6. Hugo Chávez established which of the following to extend his country’s influence by providing Venezuelan oil to Caribbean countries, especially communist Cuba, at discount prices?

  • a. VenPetro

  • b. PetroCaribe

  • c. C Petroleum

  • d. Oil Caribbean

• 7. After the death of Hugo Chávez in 2013 he was succeeded by which of the following?

  • a. Simon Bolivar

  • b. Juan Peron

  • c. Nicolás Maduro

  • d. Hugo Chávez Jr.

• 8. In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, a Marxist trained in guerrilla warfare in Cuba, became a leader of which leftist group that overthrew the U.S.-supported ruling dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979?

  • a. Sandistas

  • b. Gueverians

  • c. Bolivarians

  • d. Peronistas

• 9. In January 2014, Pablo Iglesias, a Spanish political scientist, who opposed the spread of neoliberal economic globalization, and his followers established a populist political party that they named what?

  • a. Vamos (“We Go”)

  • b. Peronistas

  • c. Podemos (“We Can”)

  • d. Republicans

• 10. Brazilian president Bolsonaro rejected science and saw the virus as more a political than a medical problem and therefore fired Luiz Henrique Mandetta for disagreeing with him. What government position did Mandetta hold?

  • a. Minister of Health

  • b. Minister of Public Safety

  • c. Minister of Security

  • d. Minister of the Environment

• 11. Asian populists in China, India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka have in common their antipathy toward which of the following?

  • a. Communist

  • b. Hindus

  • c. Islamic minorities

  • d. None of the above

• 12. Which of these groups have suffered greatly at the hands of the Han Chinese?

  • a. Uighur Muslims

  • b. Tibetans

  • c. Neither a or b

  • d. Both a and b

• 13. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, who is still regarded by China as its enemy, fled to which country after Lhasa was occupied?

  • a. Russia

  • b. France

  • c. United States

  • d. India

• 14. Which country is governed by one of the world’s most dictatorial rightwing populists, Rodrigo Duterte, who has made repeated references to cultural identity and nationalism to acquire power?

  • a. Vietnam

  • b. Brazil

  • c. China

  • d. The Philippines

• 15. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist followers in which of the following parties were re-elected for a second five-year term in 2019?

  • a. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

  • b. Hindu Party

  • c. India Party

  • d. Communist Party of India

• 16. Which of the following gave only non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh a path to citizenship?

  • a. Non-Muslim Citizen Statue

  • b. Locality Act

  • c. The Citizenship Amendment Act

  • d. Recoverment Act

• 17. Like other populists, Modi undermined which of the following of India’s democratic institutions?

  • a. Court System

  • b. Political Parties

  • c. The Media

  • d. All the Above

• 18. In August 2020, Israel “suspended” the annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and part of the Jordan Valley in exchange for “full normalization of relations” with which country?

  • a. Iran

  • b. United Arab Emirates (UAE)

  • c. United States

  • d. Saudi Arabia

• 19. The UAE-Israel agreement was a major setback to the cause of an independent Palestinian state and was partly a consequence of which of the following?

  • a. The coronavirus pandemic

  • b. Shared religious background of populations

  • c. Benjamin Netanyahu’s indictment of corruption

  • d. Their joint opposition to Iran

• 20. Instead of consulting professional advisers familiar with the region concerning, President Trump assigned who to lead an effort to break the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate?

  • a. John Bolton

  • b. Jared Kushner

  • c. Ivanka Trump

  • d. Mike Pence

True or False

• 1. True or False? Notwithstanding his links with workers, Juan Perón and his second wife Eva, who was idolized by the poor, were attracted by Benito Mussolini’s fascism, notably its corporatist aspect.

  • True

• 2. True or False? Perón’s vigorous efforts to conscript young Argentinians youth into the Peronist movement received support from the Catholic Church.

  • False, this conscription lead to the Catholic Church to consider forming its own political party to oppose Peronism

• 3. True or False? After Perón died in 1974, his third wife Isabel, who had been his vice president, became Argentina’s president.

  • True

• 4. True or False? Cuba clashed with the Soviet Union back and forth until the end of the Cold War.

  • False, Cuba was allied with the Soviet Union until the end of the Cold War.

• 5. True or False? When U.S. oil companies, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhilips, refused to surrender areas they owned in the Orinoco Belt to the Venezuelan government, the Venezuelan government expropriated them.

  • True

• 6. True or False? Hugo Chávez was overtly pro-American and consistently received support from the United States government.

  • False, he was overtly anti-American and consistently opposed what he called American imperialism

• 7. True or False? On two occasions in 2008 and 2013, Chávez organized joint military maneuvers with Russia during which, Russian Tu-160 intercontinental bombers landed in Venezuela. Both fully supported by the United States.

  • False, it created concern and anger in Washington

• 8. True or False? After the Sandinistas provided weapons to leftist Salvadoran rebels, the Reagan administration aided the anti-Sandinista Contras in a civil war that lasted until 1987.

  • True

• 9. True or False? Bolivarian ideas influenced Pablo Iglesias, a Spanish political scientist, who opposed the spread of neoliberal economic globalization.

  • True

• 10. True or False? Lula remained president for three consecutive terms in Brazil.

  • False, Brazil’s constitution precluded a third consecutive term as Brazil’s president

• 11. True or False? Instead of protecting indigenous peoples, Bolsonaro has supported legislation to overturn the country’s constitutional protection of them, cut funding for the National Indian Foundation, the agency responsible for upholding those indigenous rights, and supports oil and gas exploration and hydropower plants on their land.

  • True

• 12. True or False? In an effort to rally his base of right-wingers and evangelicals seeking to gather in churches after several weeks of quarantine, Brazilian President Bolsonaro began to stress the need to follow Covid-19 recommendations seriously.

  • False, Bolsonaro became a Covid-19 denier, encouraging citizens, especially the 38 million Brazilians who were in the country’s vast informal economy, to leave their homes and go to work congregate

• 13. True or False? In May 2020 Bolsonaro encouraged anti-democracy demonstrators in front of his presidential palace, as they called for the closing of the Supreme Court and a return to the dictatorship used that had accompanied Brazil’s years of military rule.

  • True

• 14. True or False? Although China’s paramount leader for life, President Xi Jinping was a communist dictator, who encouraged nationalism and blamed foreigners, when confronting domestic challenges, he would not usually be classified as a populist.

  • True

• 15. True or False? President Trump has been consistent on rebuking President Duterte’s disregard of human rights in his dealing of his country’s drug problem.

  • False, instead of criticizing Duterte, Trump phoned Duterte and told him that he was doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem.” 

• 16. True or False? The Philippine’s President Duterte threatened to kill anyone violating the country’s curfew or other rules to cope with the pandemic.

  • True

• 17. True or False? As Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi was assailed for failing to control and/or even encouraging anti-Muslim riots in that province in February-March 2002.

  • True

• 18. True or False? During his 2019 campaign, Modi and the BJP repeatedly pandered to India’s Muslim minority, and Modi’s supportive approach to Pakistan and Kashmir was among the leading reasons for his re-election.

  • False, Modi and the BJP repeatedly assailed India’s Muslim minority, and Modi’s muscular approach to Pakistan and Kashmir was among the leading reasons for his re-election

• 19. True or False? Modi’s attack on India’s vast and previously lively media also produced self-censorship among the country’s journalists.

  • True

• 20. True or False? Benjamin Netanyahu won Israel’s 2020 election outright and will hold the position of prime minister.

  • False, neither Netanyahu or his opponent Gantz won Israel’s 2020 election, so they agreed to rotate the post of prime minister.

Short Answer

• The region referred to as the “global south” harbors both leftwing and rightwing populists with traits like populists in the United States, Europe, and Great Britain. List three of these traits.

• Preoccupation with nationalism, dislike of globalization, anti-liberal and authoritarian tendencies, and preoccupation with identity politics

• After Peron was overthrown in 1955, and for the time being unable to enter politics, what did he and his followers do?

• They turned to organizing labor and became Latin America’s most influential labor movement. Peronistas alternated political power with military coups, and their hostility dominated Argentine political life. Some radical Peronists leftists calling themselves the Montoneros resorted to terrorism and guerrilla warfare in the 1970s

• What economic difficulties helped the Peronistas triumph in the 2019 election?

• The country was beset by debt, the value of its currency had plummeted, and inflation along with poverty had soared.

• What leftwing populist policies did Hugo Chávez’s institute?

• The redistribution of land and wealth from the rich to the rural poor and improving education and medical access, while emulating Castro’s Cuba in establishing state control over political life and the economy.

• What led America’s Justice Department to bring charges against President Maduro and his associates in March 2020?

• He encouraged criminal activities, especially drug smuggling by transnational networks linked to his government

• Why did army officers oust Honduras President Manuel Zelaya from office?

• Zelaya went too far in 2009 for them when he organized a referendum that had been declared illegal by the Supreme Court to change the Honduran constitution and allow him to seek reelection. Thus, on June 28—the day the referendum was to be held—army officers ousted him from office

• What is the impact of the Amazon or the destruction of the Amazon on the environment?

• The Amazon, frequently termed the world’s “lungs,” absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide and thereby fights global warming. By contrast, the burning of the rainforest released large amounts of carbon dioxide, while also destroying the habitat of endangered species of animals and plants that might have medicinal or genetic value, while reducing the living space of indigenous peoples

• Give an example of an investigation into President Bolsonaro or his associates?

• Brazil’s chief justice authorized investigating into Bolsonaro for alleged corruption and obstruction of justice. Fabrício Queiroz, center, an aide to Flávio Bolsonaro, one of President Bolsonaro’s sons, was arrested for allegedly siphoning public funds to the Bolsonaro family. Moreover, Queiroz’s daughter was on the payroll of Bolsonaro’s former congressional office between 2016 and 2018, although she was working as a personal trainer elsewhere at the time during which she sent tens of thousands of dollars to her father. Another of the president’s sons, Carlos was also being investigation for improper use of public funds and involvement in a disinformation campaign while a third, Eduardo, was accused of involvement in that campaign.

• How did President Duterte of the Philippines respond to the problems of coronavirus pandemic domestically?

• Duterte’s response to the coronavirus epidemic had the same intensity as his response to the drug epidemics. The Philippines had suffered the second-highest number of deaths and the second-lowest recovery rate in Southeast Asia. As in Hungary in which parliament had granted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán authority to rule by decree, Duterte used the pandemic to undermine further his country’s democratic institutions. Despite the opposition of the Philippine congress, Duterte imposed the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Republic Act No. 11469), in March 2020, which gave him vast additional authority including control of private medical facilities, public transportation, and government-owned and controlled corporations. In addition, the Enhanced Community Quarantine placed Manila and the entire island of Luzon on lockdown, suspending domestic and international travel, closing most businesses, and imposing a curfew 8 pm and 5 am

• Describe the recent treatment of Muslim people and group in Myanmar?

• Myanmar is steeped in Islamophobia on the part of the country’s Buddhist majority and thus became a model for India’s Hindu extremists. Myanmar’s armed forces were charged with war crimes and/or genocide, and two soldiers confessed to the charge in September 2020. The result was a crisis in neighboring Bangladesh as 723,000 of its Muslim Rohingyas from its Rakhine State fled in 2017. Myanmar’s army killed thousands, although its army, called the Tatmadaw, continued to deny it had targeted the Rohingyas. Previous violence in 2012 had resulted in confining about 130,000 Rohingya to internally displaced persons in squalid camps in Sittwe, where they remained without freedom of movement

Essay Questions

• 1. How has the Trump administration handled the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate?

• 2. What has been the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global south?

• 3. How has the rhetoric and policy of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi impacted the nations Muslim minority?

• 4. Describe one aspect of the rise of populism across Central and South America?

• 5. Describe the political and socio-economic background behind the rise of right-wing populism in Brazil?