Opinion: European democracies face far-right threat amid polarization

Guardian columnist Rafael Behr warns that European democracies risk succumbing to far-right movements, drawing parallels to Stefan Zweig's 1930s reflections on the collapse of liberal idealism in pre-Nazi Vienna. Behr contends that far-right parties, MAGA ideology, and Kremlin money are coordinating efforts to undermine liberal democratic values that once defined post-war Europe.

The column argues that European optimism about tolerance, economic integration, and the gradual dissolution of national boundaries has given way to renewed nationalism and polarization. Behr invokes Zweig's historical warning as a cautionary tale for contemporary European societies facing similar ideological challenges.