Populism and international affairs: The case of Spain
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00207020231178393 |
| Author | Philip Giurlando |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Policy Brief |
Populism and international
affairs: The case of Spain
Philip Giurlando
Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
Populists in southern Europe and potentially beyond display a distinctive understand-
ing of international relations, such as the belief that national or the “people’s”sover-
eignty must be the main organizing principle of international affairs, a preference for a
multipolar world, suspicion of multilateral governance institutions, and sympathy
toward Russia and/or China. This phenomenon represents a potentially fruitful
domain for scholarly inquir y to answer questions such as: what are some of the onto-
logical features of populism and how are these elements connected to patterns of for-
eign policy preferences? This essay aims to provide tentative answers to these
questions with a focus on Spain.
Keywords
Populism, foreign policy, Spain, Vox, Podemos
Both left-wing and right-wing populists share a variant of the worldview that society is
fundamentally in a state of conflict between ordinary people and the corrupt elite,
adding that the former must recover sovereignty which, populists claim, was
Corresponding author:
Philip Giurlando, Department of Political Studies, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Ave, Peterborough,
Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada.
Email: philipgiurlando@trentu.ca
Policy Brief
International Journal
2023, Vol. 78(1-2) 232–242
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/00207020231178393
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