PALLADIUM 16: After Populism is now available to all Palladium members. Subscribe today to receive your copy of our winter 2024 print edition, featuring an in-depth exploration of the last decade of populist politics in the Western world by authors like Costin Alamariu and Byrne Hobart, as well as an on-the-ground report from populist protests on the streets of Paris by Jacques Knight. Every election seems like a new beginning. Few actually are.

Over eight years ago, against the predictions of the media, pollsters, and experts, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Just four months earlier, British voters indicated, through a thin margin, that they wanted the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. These events shook the political landscape, and they came to define the overarching social and political narrative of democratic societies until today. Foreign policy, economic strategy, and cultural priorities shifted in the aftermath of this great vote of no confidence in the old establishment. It seemed a great, terrible, and long-dormant political giant had awoken: the people.

As the years rolled on, we saw other names rise up too, such as Duterte, Le Pen, Kurz, Salvini, Bolsonaro, Milei, and Orban. It appeared as though profound changes to how modern states were run were inevitable. But by early 2024, two of the once victorious populist presidents, Trump in the U.S. and Bolsonaro in Brazil, were facing criminal charges and many of those names had faded out of relevance.

This was just the tip of a great reaction that brought forth years of internet censorship, media campaigns, political arrests, administrative disobedience of the elected government, rapidly accelerated immigration designed perhaps to quickly replace the disobedient electorate, and more. The pandemic further demonstrated how toothless people’s power was in the face of mere public health bureaucracy. The giant, once awakened, was quickly back in bed with a fever. 

Quietly, in the background of these great struggles, Silicon Valley and its new technocracy continued to grow in power and transform society while, for the most part, publicly endorsing the old technocratic establishment that was growing ever more distrustful and hostile towards them. A lone contrarian investor, Peter Thiel, voiced his support for the people as early as 2016. Elon Musk did so too, in 2024. After Donald Trump’s second electoral victory, this new alliance of technology and populism seems like another new beginning. It is instead a chapter from a political story that has been unfolding for over a decade. In recent years, democratic governments have shown more willingness to transform to combat populism in new ways than allow themselves to be transformed by it.

PALLADIUM 16: After Populism is our look at what happens in the aftermath of a populist victory. Despite calling our governments democracies, our societies don’t know how to productively harness this potent political force. Whoever does so first is destined to reshape governance in the 21st century. Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 16 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy.

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Featuring

Jair Bolsonaro And The Populist Crisis In Brazil by Costin Alamariu. The former president is known as Brazil’s controversial right-populist. But he also reveals deep class divisions in the country’s politics and how it remembers military rule.

A Promenade with the Gilets Jaunes in Paris by Jacques Knight. A Palladium team embedded with the Gilets Jaunes in Paris. They returned with on-the-ground observations about the riots, the movement’s desires, and France’s political destiny.

The Western Intellectual Behind China’s Distrust of the Crowd by Simon Luo. Since the Cultural Revolution, China has feared and suppressed mass mobilization. The theories of French thinker Gustave Le Bon influence both the party and its critics in their evaluation of the mob.

The Politics of Crisis Is Not Going Away by Wessie Du Toit. We are trapped in an escalating politics of crisis, which threatens to break our connection with reality. It’s only going to get worse before it gets better.

Why Big Tech Is More Competent Than the U.S. Government by Byrne Hobart. The U.S. pandemic response was undermined by buck-passing and bad judgment at every turn. Tech giants outperformed it thanks to lessons from the past and better incentives for the future.

France Is Living in Zemmour’s World by Francois Valentin. French politician Éric Zemmour believes France is on the brink of self-destruction. Parts of the political establishment, including President Emmanuel Macron agree.

America Needs a National Service Program by James Haynes. National service is a well-established way for Western democracies to build civic unity. A joint military and diplomatic initiative can spark America’s institutional renewal.

The Post-Liberal International Order and American Grand Strategy by Sumantra Maitra. The realist school of foreign policy has long predicted a post-liberal geopolitics. Rather than an existential crisis, the current landscape is merely the latest move in a very old game.