A new authoritarian axis requires a progressive international front

There's actually a global crash going on, with big consequences. There is nothing less at stake than the planet's economic, social and ecological future. At the time of mass wealth and income inequality, when 1 percent of the world's richest possess more wealth than 99 per cent of the rest of the poor, we are seeing the rise of a new authoritarian axis.

While these regimes may vary in some respects, they share some key traits: hostility to democratic norms, opposition to free press, intolerance towards ethnic and religious minorities, and the belief that the government should benefit from its selfish financial interests.

These leaders are also deeply linked to a network of multi-billion oligarchs, who view the world as their economic toy. Those of us who still believe in democracy, who believe that a government should be accountable to its people, should understand the purpose of this challenge if we want to face it effectively.

It must already be clear that Donald Trump and the right movement supporting him is not unique to the United States alone. Worldwide, in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia, and other countries, we are seeing movements led by demagogues that exploit people's fears, prejudices, and anxieties, to climb to power, and keep them in every form.

Of course, this tendency did not start with Trump, but there is no doubt that authoritarian leaders around the world have not been inspired by the fact that the leader of the oldest democracy and more powerful in the world, it seems to enjoy breaking democratic norms.

Three years ago, who would have imagined that the United States would stand neutral between Canada, our democratic neighbour and our second-largest trading partner, and Saudi Arabia, a monarchic customer state, treating women as third grade citizens?

It is also hard to imagine, that the government of Netanyaya in Israel would have approved “the State-national law”, which essentially codifies the second-hand status of non-Branite Israeli citizens, if Benjamin Netanyahu did not know Trump would support it.

And all this isn't exactly a secret. While the US was continuing to distance itself from our old democratic allies, the US ambassador to Germany recently made clear the support of the Trump administration for extremist right parties across Europe.

In addition to Trump's hostility to democratic institutions, we have a billionaire president who has inexplicably instilled his economic interests and that of his friends in government policies.

Other authoritarian states have gone far further along this kleptocratic process. In Russia, it is impossible to say where the decisions of the government end and where they begin the interests of Vladimir Putin and his circle of oligarchs. They function as a single unit. Similarly, in Saudi Arabia, there is no debate over this division, since the state's trillion - dollar natural resources belong to the Saudi royal family.

In Hungary, extreme right leader Viktor Orban is an open ally Putin's in Russia. In China, an internal circle led by Xi Jinping has consistently consolidated its power, wrinkled domestic political freedom while aggressively promoting a version of authoritarian capitalism abroad.

We must understand that these authoritarians are part of a common front. They're in close contact with each other, they share tactics, and just like in the case of right European and American movements, and funders. For example, the Mercer family, supporter of the notorious company “Cambridge Analytica” has been the main supporter of Trump and Breitbar Nea, the portal operating in Europe, the United States and Israel, to advance the same anti-migrian and anti-mysliman agenda.

To effectively challenge right-wing authoritarianism, we can only go back to the failed status quo of recent decades. Today in the United States, and in many other parts of the world, people are working longer hours for wages that are no longer growing, and they worry that their children will have a lower standard of living than they do themselves.

It is our duty to fight for a future in which new technology and innovation work to benefit all people, not just a few. It is unacceptable that 1 percent of the world's population own half the planet's wealth, while 70 percent of the working population have only 2.7 percent of global wealth.

The governments of the world have to get together to end the absurdity of rich and multinational corporations, which hide over 21 trillion dollars in bank accounts in fiscal paradise, avoid paying taxes, and then ask their respective governments to set a austerity agenda on their workers' families.

It is not acceptable for the fossil fuels industry to continue to collect huge profits, while its carbon emissions destroy the planet for our children and grandchildren. It is also unacceptable that a small part of international media giants, owned by a small number of billionaires, control mainly the flow of information to the planet.

It cannot be acknowledged that trade policies, which benefit large multinational corporations, encourage a race that ultimately harms people working around the world until they disappear from the public scene. It is not acceptable that after long after the Cold War, countries worldwide spend over $1 trillion a year on weapons of mass destruction, while millions of children die of mild - treatment diseases.

To effectively combat the establishment of an authoritarian international axis, we need a progressive international movement, to mobilise after a vision of shared prosperity, security and dignity for all people, and to address massive global inequality, which exists not only in wealth but also in political power.

Such a move should be willing to think creatively and courageously about the world we would like to see. While authoritarian axis is committed to deter a global post-World War II order, which they see as limiting their approach to power and wealth, it is not enough that we simply defend that order. as it exists now.

We should look honestly at how this order has failed to fulfill most of its promises, and how authoritarians have skillfully exploited those failures in order to support their agenda. We have to take the opportunity, to reconsider a really progressive global order based on human solidarity, a order that knows that every person on this planet has a common humanity, that we all want our children to grow up healthy, have a good education and a decent job, drink clean water, breathe clean air and live in peace.

Our job is to go to every corner of the world to those who share these values, and who are fighting for a better world. In an era of wealth and technology boom, we have the potential to create a decent life for all people. Our task is to build on our common humanity, and to do all we can to oppose all forces, whether the government's irresponsible power or irresponsible corporate power, who try to divide us and decide against each other. We know that these forces work together beyond national borders. We should do the same.

Translation by the World.al