Populism and Political Violence in Foreign Policy

This chapter argues that populism is linked to political violence through the revolutionary impulse that is built into the populist mobilisational logic and discourse. To make our argument, we first review the ideational components of populism and show how they function together to rationalise violence to overthrow the establishment. We extend this logic to the foreign policy realm by arguing that, on the international stage, populists’ Manichean worldview and anti-elitist rhetoric translate into unilateralist behaviour that rejects international norms and institutions. While there is no automatic link between populism and violence, we argue that recognising populism’s revolutionary aspirations is crucial for understanding its destabilising impact on domestic politics and international relations and for mitigating the potential for violence at both levels.