Back

The rise of populism in Spain with our columnist Helmut Sorge

November 22, 2019
Related topics: 
International Relations

Questions:

1/ The recent elections in Spain showed a successful right wing party “Vox’’. Is this a sign of more trouble for Europe?

2/ Do we have to fear a strong rise of populism?

3/ Is a more restrictive immigration policy a solution?

Speakers
Helmut Sorge
Columnist
Helmut Sorge is a columnist at the Policy Center for the New South, where he publishes opinion pieces in the format of international press reviews of current events related to the Middle East and European affairs, and conducts interviews with high level policy makers and PCNS researchers. He is also a lecturer on journalism and the media. For over 40 years, Helmut Sorge served as a writer, former Foreign correspondent, Foreign editor, and Middle East expert for Germany's leading newsmagazine "Der Spiegel" to Washington, London, Paris and Los Angeles. He reported from Vietnam, the Middle East, wrote about safaris, nuclear accidents, visited prisoners on death row in the United States. The German weekly “Gala” summarized in 2011, when his latest book, a collection of biographies ...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Africafé: What do U.S. Midterm Elections Mean for Africa?
    November 12, 2026
    The U.S. midterm elections raise questions about the future direction of American foreign policy and its implications for Africa. This discussion examines how shifting political dynamics in Washington could shape the Trump administration’s foreign policy priorities and engagement with t...
  • Download PDF
    The Iran War: The International System under the Trump Shock and a New Regionalization of Globalization
    Authors
    Paul Isbell
    November 12, 2026
    In this policy paper – Part 3 of our ongoing analysis – we address the Iran War and its implications for the evolution of the international system in its denouement from the clash between “Restoration”, on the one hand, and “Reformation” or “Revolution”, on the other (see our previous policy paper for a summary and analysis of Andrey Kortunov’s scenarios for the future of the international system). These rival global dynamics are faced off in this moment across the Strait of Hormuz ...
  • Download PDF
    The Partnership for Cultural Trade in the New South
    Authors
    Patrick Kabanda
    Otaviano Canuto
    November 10, 2026
    Cultural trade is a dynamic engine for economic diversification in the New South. Despite decades of diversification rhetoric, however, this sector remains underrealized. Thus, many countries across Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and the Middle East are still commodity-dependent, even though the global creative economy has grown roughly eightfold since 2002, to surpass $2 trillion—that figure, moreover, does not even account for the nonmonetary benefits that merit co ...
  • Download PDF
    Un veto contre un autre et la MINURSO tomba entre deux feux
    Authors
    Mohammed Loulichki
    November 4, 2026
    Le 30 octobre 2026, le mandat de la Minurso a expiré et n’a pas été renouvelé. La raison : un projet américain, pourtant appuyé par 11 membres du Conseil de sécurité, auquel la Russie a opposé son veto, suivi d’un projet russe qui n’a pu recueillir que trois voix en sa faveur, sur lequel les États-Unis ont émis un vote négatif.Cette impasse révèle deux conceptions opposées du règlement. Washington entend recentrer le processus sur l’initiative marocaine d’autonomie et adapter progre ...
  • Brazil’s Elections and Digital Sovereignty as Democracy’s New Battleground
    Authors
    Giovanna Rinaldo
    November 4, 2026
    Brazil’s presidential election, which concluded on October 25, 2026, was above all a digital battle. This is nothing new; the impact of social media on elections has been widely analyzed since Barack Obama's 2008 win marked a turning point for digital campaigning worldwide. Almost two decades later, social media is an entirely different breed, with a life of its own – and still very little regulation within electoral politics. The danger, however, is that digital players now also in ...
  • Regionalism and G20 Support for Neighboring Non-G20 Developing Countries
    Authors
    Bambang Brodjonegoro
    Karim El Aynaoui
    November 2, 2026
    This policy note was published as part of the T20 U.S. 2026 Workstreams, under the workstream “Fostering Trade and People-Centered Economic Growth,” which brings together policy experts to develop recommendations for G20 policymakers. The Group of Twenty (G20) accounts for most of the world’s output, yet its decisions shape the prospects of 174 United Nations Member States without G20 membership, among them the great majority of least developed countries and small states. Many ...
  • The Twilight of Lula and Bolsonaro
    Authors
    Marcus Vinicius de Freitas
    October 29, 2026
    Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory brings to an end one of the most closely contested elections in Brazil’s recent history. Before any broader analysis, however, a qualification is necessary. Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin’s controversial decision to extend voting hours sparked debate over the electoral process. Although the measure was not mathematically decisive in Lula’s come-from-behind victory, the episode risks fuelling challenges to the result and further eroding poli ...