A wave of nationalism is sweeping the globe as more countries turn to leaders cut from the same cloth as President Donald Trump.
An entrepreneur billionaire is set to become the Czech Republic's next prime minister. Similar Trump-like candidates are emerging in Bulgaria, the Netherlands, France and Britain.
“At the root of it is a frustration amongst people in other countries, as well as in the U.S., that leaders aren't doing what they're supposed to do, and that financially not everyone is doing as well as everybody else,” says Dr. Brandon Rottinghaus, political science professor at the University of Houston.
“We saw a wave of nationalism leading up to and after World War II,” he says. “In the 1960s there was a lot of nationalism going on across the world, so it definitely follows that economic instability and people's fears can very easily be stoked.”
The issue of immigration also is a major factor.
“During times of economic stress, we often see countries moving to use immigrants as a political wedge because of the fear that immigrants are essentially to blame,” says Rottinghaus. “This is a common trend throughout the history of the world as well as the U.S.”