There is more going on here than simple racism or xenophobia. French historian Emmanuel Todd believes these movements are, in large part, reactions to the larger strains of adjustment as societies move into the 21st Century. Paradoxically, he argues, as the traditional quarrels between left and right die down, fringe movements gain more support.
"The existence of the National Front (in France) is quite typical of the situation where the politics are becoming centrist," he said. "The existence of the National Front . . . is not so much connected with the intensity of the immigration problem; it's much more connected with the speed of the transformation in society itself."
Both the new European right and the Greens, he suggested, have risen to provide "disoriented individuals and groups threatened by economic changes a chance to express their anguish."
But there is yet a deeper problem, a philosophical one: is democracy satisfying to the soul?
The two totalitarian ideologies of the 20th Century, communism and fascism, were both utopian creeds born of dissatisfaction with the existing democratic order (abetted, of course, by economic distress). There are some who suggest that the same bleak mood could arise again.
"Liberalism has won, but it may be decisively unsatisfactory," wrote Allan Bloom, the conservative social philosopher at the University of Chicago, referring to "liberalism" in the broad sense of democratic secularism.
"It appears that the world has been made safe for reason as understood by the market, and we are moving toward a global common market, the only goal of which is to minister to man's bodily needs and whims," he wrote.
And in such a future, he argued, a rebirth of fascism cannot be counted out. "If an alternative is sought there is nowhere else to seek it," Bloom wrote. "I would suggest that fascism has a future, if not \o7 the \f7 future."
Bloom's gloom was prompted by the suggestion of Francis Fukuyama, a scholar at Santa Monica's RAND Corp, that the triumph of democracy could mean that humanity has reached its final stage of development--or, as he titled a provocative essay, "The End of History?"
The highest form of human society, Fukuyama wrote puckishly, could be defined as "liberal democracy in the political sphere combined with easy access to VCRs and stereos in the economic."
But Fukuyama admits that his venturesome theory could stumble on the philosophical question.
"Is life in liberal democracies going to be satisfying?" he mused. "If not, then history is going to continue."
"The question is this: Is perfect security and material prosperity sufficient for people? Those have been fragile enough goals for all of human history thus far. The philosophical question will be: Is that what makes people happy? Or is it the struggle to get there that makes people happy?"
TRADING GOODS AND MONEY
\o7 Volume of global merchandise trade \f7 (goods) \o7 (1988):
\f7 $1.2 billion a day (or, $2.9 trillion a year)
\o7 Volume of global foreign exchange transactions \f7 (money) \o7 (1989):
\f7 $640 billion a day (or, $160 trillion a year)
\o7 Source: GATT, Bank for International Settlements
\f7
WHERE THE BUCKS ARE
Top Recipients of U.S. Direct Investment, 1989
In billions, U.S. dollars.
Canada: $67
United Kingdom: 61
*West Germany: 23
Switzerland: 20
Japan: 19
Bermuda: 18
Netherlands: 17
France: 15
Chile: 15
Brazil: 15
*Before reunification
\o7 Source: U.S. Department of Commerce\f7
WHO'S 'BUYING UP AMERICA'?
Top 10 Foreign Investors in the United States, 1989
In billions of U.S. dollars.
United Kingdom: $119 billion
Japan: $70
Netherlands: $60
Canada: $32
West Germany: $28
Switzerland: $19
France: $16
Netherlands Antilles: $11
Australia: $6
New Zealand: $6
South Africa: $6
\o7 Source: U.S. Department of Commerce\f7
