Centrist political leadership, which broadly governed world affairs for the last seven decades, is collapsing around the world — and potentially dangerous fringe movements are taking its place.
Two events within the last 24 hours underscore that trend. On Sunday, Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro— a far-right firebrand who has expressed fondness for his country's past military dictatorship — won Brazil's presidential election. And on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced she would be resigning imminently as the head of her center-right party and stepping down from power completely in 2021. That coincides with the rise of anti-immigrant parties in her country and Europe more generally.
It's the latest sign that status-quo leaders (who typically believe globalization leads to economic and social progress, for example) have lost their foothold.
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