Each year, hundreds of international dignitaries, foreign policy officials and military advisors make their way to Halifax for the Halifax International Security Forum (HISF).
The public panel event hosted at AV俱乐部 Thursday night (Nov. 21) ahead of the forum鈥檚 official agenda didn鈥檛 focus on simply a narrow, military-focused definition of security. Instead, it was a sprawling, urgent conversation about the state of global democracy in 2019 and the perils represented by rising global populism.
鈥淚t is generally used in the name of 鈥榳e, the pure people鈥�,鈥� said panelist Janice Stein of the University of Toronto鈥檚 Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, offering a definition of the term.
鈥淸They are] revolting against 鈥榗orrupt鈥� elites: they can be financial elites, they can be political elites, institutional elites, who have rigged the system against 鈥榳e the people.鈥� One of ways that I know I鈥檓 in the presence of a populist leader is when he or she uses that language in opposition to the existing institutional structure.鈥�
If that story sounds familiar, it reflects the degree to which this populist thought has intersected with authoritarianism impulses to pose challenges to Western-style liberal democracy around the world. Freedom House鈥檚 annual 鈥淔reedom in the World鈥� report for 2018 noted that of the 41 countries it ranked as consistently 鈥渇ree鈥� from 1985 to 2005, 22 have registered a net decline in freedom over the past five years.
鈥淭he wave of hope and optimism following post-Cold War democratization across Europe is now, I would argue, being replaced by a sweeping global sense of despair for the future of democratic governance 鈥� despair in light of the rise of the illiberal populism and authoritarian rule,鈥� said Frank Harvey, dean of Dal鈥檚 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in his opening remarks.
Global perspectives
The panel, titled 鈥淧opulism Peaked鈥� was co-hosted by AV俱乐部鈥檚 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Saint Mary鈥檚 Faculty of Arts, and chaired by journalist, think-tank analyst and HISF Vice-President Robin Shepherd. Its participants offered the crowd of 200-plus gathered in the Student Union Building鈥檚 McInnes Room perspective on democracy and populism from three different international perspectives.
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German Parliamentarian Roderich Kiesewetter, special representative for foreign affairs of the governing CDU/CSU group, spoke of how the rise of the Alternative for Germany party took place against the backdrop of refugee migration.
鈥淯ntil 2015, populism was not very popular in Germany,鈥� he said. 鈥淧opulism was a word which we apprehended for other countries, not for Germany. When the migration peaked in 2015, the Alternative for Germany 鈥� a small party at the time 鈥� changed its attitude; they were very Euro-skeptic, but then they were against migration. They succeeded, especially in Eastern Germany 鈥� the number of migrants in that area is less than 1% of the population, but [the Alternative for Germany] gained about 30-35% in domestic elections.鈥�
In contrast, the sort of democracy Tolu Ogunlesi spoke about in his home country of Nigeria is so young 鈥� roughly 20 years of unbroken democratic elections 鈥� that he feels the sort of ideological divides that shape Western populism haven鈥檛 really taken hold; he feels the two major parties are largely indistinguishable. That said, he sees familiar echoes in the more chaotic elements of populism.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very interesting to watch the west kind of come to terms with something that鈥檚 typically been associated with Africa,鈥� said Ogunlesi, special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria on Digital and New Media and head of the Presidency Office of Digital Engagement (PODE). 鈥淭o see that struggle, how did we get here? There鈥檚 almost the temptation to say, 鈥榃elcome to our world.鈥欌��
From Hong Kong to Ontario
Meanwhile, Emily Lau offered a window into one of democracy鈥檚 most urgent battlegrounds at the moment: the streets of Hong Kong, where concern about a new extradition bill proposed by China resulted in frequent protests for much of the year.
鈥淲e enjoy many of the trappings of democracy like freedom, personal safety, rule of law, independence of the judiciary,鈥� said Lau, a politician in Hong Kong who champions press freedom and human rights. 鈥淲e enjoy these things, in fact, much more than countries with periodic elections. Now, because of the extradition bill protest, everything is at stake, and people get more and more worried because of the police brutality and the Chinese government鈥檚 tough stance that whatever we had after the last 20-30 years is at risk鈥�
鈥淲e want the world to watch and to be our friends and tell China to exercise restraint.鈥�
Through the panel discussion and the engaging Q&A that followed, the speakers discussed global trends, local interests and their own take on being optimistic or pessimistic about democracy鈥檚 future. That question, noted Dr. Stein, is actually a pointed one: she says democracy breaks down when people lose optimism and feel like they have nothing to lose.
鈥淲e have a populist premier in Ontario right now鈥� the people who voted for him were pessimistic and felt they had very little to lose. That鈥檚 why they voted for him. So I think the agenda forward is making sure people feel that they have a stake in the future, and that鈥檚 fair, that it鈥檚 more than equal, and that they have something to lose if they disrupt the system.鈥�