Stephen K. Bannon, the ideological guru of U.S. President Donald Trump, is perhaps the second most powerful person in the world. As the President’s Chief Strategist, he sits in on National Security Council meetings, and is in a position to influence critical policymaking. His rise from being the executive chairman of a Conservative website that was hardly heard of outside the U.S. till six months ago to what he is now is rather phenomenal. But for those who tracked Mr. Trump’s campaign speeches and tactics, it’s an I-told-you-so story.
In the initial days of the Republican primaries, Mr. Trump, a loud-mouthed businessman with no political experience, was written off as a “clown” by the pundits. But during the course of the campaign, he evolved into a Conservative insurgent with ethno-nationalist ideals and a contempt for globalisation. Be it his attacks on the Washington establishment, criticism of Wall Street, support for Brexit, pledge to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., promise to reset ties with Russia or even the deliberate politically incorrect statements, Mr. Trump’s campaign rhetoric had Mr. Bannon’s imprint on them. Conventional liberals would call Mr. Trump post-ideological — a pragmatic businessman who exploited the anti-establishment resentment among America’s poor and middle classes, particularly among the whites. This is not entirely true. Mr. Trump actually represents a body of thought, and to understand that, one has to look deeper into Mr. Bannon’s thinking.
Mr. Bannon, who was running the Breitbart website till he was appointed Mr. Trump’s campaign chief executive in August 2016, hasn’t said or written much about his world view. But Breitbart, which was launched as a Conservative news aggregator in 2005, turned into a platform for the Alt-Right (Alternative Right) movement under Mr. Bannon. Alt-Right, a white nationalist political insurgency, is known for its exclusivist attitude towards other races, misogyny, political incorrectness, and protectionist economic philosophy. Mr. Bannon opened a larger platform for them in Breitbart. In 2014, addressing a conference at the Vatican via Skype, Mr. Bannon said that the “Judeo-Christian West is in a crisis”, and is “fighting an outright war against jihadist Islamic fascism”. More recently, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he said the U.S. is a “nation with a culture” and not just an economic unit in a borderless world.
Religio-cultural nationalism
Mr. Bannon wants to “deconstruct” the American administrative state, something which he said is already on under the Trump administration. But the America he imagines is a cultural nationalist entity with closed borders and protectionist policies that’s involved in a clash of civilisations with Islam. Components of this political philosophy can be located elsewhere. For example, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has said he’s a “Hindu nationalist”. Cultural nationalism is the theory and praxis of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Bannon, in his Vatican speech, actually said Mr. Modi’s “great victory” was part of a “global revolt”. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is another example. If Mr. Modi emphasises on Hindu nationalism, Mr. Erdogan banks on Turko-Islamic nationalism for support. Mr. Bannon wants white cultural nationalism in the U.S. The three do not hold liberal democracy in high regard.
The cultural nationalist state of Mr. Bannon, however, is not a free-market state like Mr. Modi’s India or Mr. Erdogan’s Turkey. It’s not anti-capitalist either. Rather, Mr. Bannon is opposed to globalisation. He believes globalisation, the influx of refugees and rampant consumerism are threatening America’s traditional values, while doing economic injustice to its workers. His protectionism and anti-immigrant views derive from this conviction. There are several parties in the West that share the same world view such as the UKIP in Britain, AfD in Germany and Freedom Party in the Netherlands. Unlike traditional leftists, who look at the crisis in capitalism as the failure of the economic system, these parties saw the crisis as being brought upon them by the establishment.
No antidote
If Mr. Bannon had remained at Breitbart, he wouldn’t have been so much in discussion. But he’s found the world’s most powerful spokesman for his dangerous ideals — the President of the U.S. Given the social and economic challenges Western societies face, Bannonism looks contagious without an antidote. If Mr. Bannon gets Mr. Trump to execute his ideas, like he’s doing in the initial days of the presidency, the world will be a much more polarised place in four years.
stanly.johny@thehindu.co.in
