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Economic Nationalism and the Populist Radical Right: The Cases of Alternative für Deutschland and Rassemblement National

Year 2026, Volume: 15 Issue: 2 , - , 16.04.2026

Volkan İmamoğlu

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.1921639
https://izlik.org/JA53NS75MG

Abstract

Economic nationalism is becoming more prevalent in European politics, as populist radical right (PRR) parties, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) of Germany and Rassemblement National (RN) of France, are on the rise. By examining the economic policy agendas of European PRR parties, this article aims to contribute to the literature on the political economy of nationalism. The AfD and the RN have distinct ideas about defending and advancing the national economy. To clarify the differences in the economic nationalist ideologies of the major PRR parties in France and Germany, the article offers a comprehensive framework that identifies the main elements and subsets of economic nationalism. The framework that the article develops is based on six policy areas: protectionism, financial nationalism, disengagement from international economic cooperation, national industrial policy, protection of domestic workers, and resistance to foreign direct investment. Through an analysis of the election agendas of these two PRR parties, this study finds that the RN exhibits a much stronger form of economic nationalism than the AfD.

Keywords

Economic nationalism populist radical right (PRR) Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) Rassemblement National (RN)

References

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Year 2026, Volume: 15 Issue: 2 , - , 16.04.2026

Volkan İmamoğlu

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.1921639
https://izlik.org/JA53NS75MG

Abstract

References

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  • Fetzer, T. (2022). Beyond ‘economic nationalism’: Towards a new research agenda for the study of nationalism in political economy. Journal of International Relations and Development, 25(1), 235– 259. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41268-021-00227-x
  • Ganga, P. D. (2024). Bringing the state back in: Populism and economic nationalism in Europe. Social Science Quarterly. 105(6), 2003–2016. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13461
  • Gaudiosi, F. (2018). Economic nationalism and the post-global future. International Affairs Institute, 18(04).
  • Gilpin, R. (1987). The political economy of international relations. Princeton University Press. Grieco, J, G., Ikenberry J., & Mastanduno, M. (2022). Introduction to international relations: Perspectives, connections and enduring questions. Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Harteveld, E. (2016). Winning the ‘losers’ but losing the ‘winners’? The electoral consequences of the radical right moving to the economic left. Electoral Studies, 44, 225–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. electstud.2016.08.015
  • Helleiner, E. (2002). Economic nationalism as a challenge to economic liberalism? Lessons from the 19th Century. International Studies Quarterly, 46(3), 307–329. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468- 2478.00235
  • Helleiner, E. (2005). Conclusion: The meaning and contemporary significance of economic nationalism. In E. Helleiner & A. Pickel (Eds.), Economic nationalism in a globalizing world, 220–234.
  • Henley, J, & Rankin, J. (2022, April 15) ‘Frexit in all but name’: What a Marine Le Pen win would mean for EU. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/15/frexit-what-marinele- pen-win-mean-eu.
  • Hesse, J.O. (2021). Financial crisis and the recurrence of economic nationalism. Journal of Modern European History, 19(1), 14-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1611894420974254
  • Hopkin, J, & Blyth, M. (2019). The global economics of European populism: Growth regimes and party system change in Europe (The government and opposition/Leonard Schapiro lecture 2017). Government and Opposition, 54(2), 193–225. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2018.43
  • Ivaldi, G. (2015). Towards the median economic crisis voter? The new leftist economic agenda of the Front National in France. French Politics, 13, 346–369. https://doi.org/10.1057/fp.2015.17
  • Ivaldi, G, Lanzone, M. E., and Woods, D. (2017). Varieties of populism across a left‐right spectrum: The case of the Front National, the Northern League, Podemos and Five Star Movement. Swiss Political Science Review, 23(4), 354–376. https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12278
  • Ivaldi, G. (2018). Contesting the EU in times of crisis: The Front National and politics of Euroscepticism in France. Politics, 38(3), 278–294. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263395718766787
  • Johnson, J., & Barnes, A. (2015). Financial nationalism and its international enablers: The Hungarian experience. Review of International Political Economy, 22(3), 535–569. https://doi.org/10.1080/0 9692290.2014.919336
  • Jungar, A.C., & Jupskås, A.R. (2014). Populist radical right parties in the Nordic region: A new and distinct party family? Scandinavian Political Studies, 37(3), 215–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467- 9477.12024
  • Kitschelt, H., & McGann A.J., (1997). The radical right in Western Europe: A comparative analysis. University of Michigan Press.
  • Köstem, S. (2018). Different paths to regional hegemony: National identity contestation and foreign economic strategy in Russia and Turkey. Review of International Political Economy, 25(5), 726– 752. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2018.1511450
  • Kratz, A., Zenglein, M.J., Brown, A., Sebastian, G., and Meyer, A (2024). Dwindling investments become more concentrated - Chinese FDI in Europe: 2023 update. Merics, June 6, 2024. https:// www.merics.org/en/report/dwindling-investments-become-more-concentrated-chinese-fdi-europe- 2023-update.
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  • Lefkofridi, Z., Wagner, M., and Willmann, J.E. (2014). Left-authoritarians and policy representation in Western Europe: Electoral choice across ideological dimensions. West European Politics, 37(1), 65–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2013.818354
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There are 76 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects European Studies
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Volkan İmamoğlu This is me 0000-0003-2290-7394

Submission Date June 19, 2025
Acceptance Date November 5, 2025
Publication Date April 16, 2026
DOI https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.1921639
IZ https://izlik.org/JA53NS75MG
Published in Issue Year 2026 Volume: 15 Issue: 2

Cite

Chicago İmamoğlu, Volkan. 2026. “Economic Nationalism and the Populist Radical Right: The Cases of Alternative Für Deutschland and Rassemblement National”. All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace 15 (2). https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.1921639.

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Ersel AYDINLI
Turkish Foreign Policy, International Security, International Relations Theories

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Faruk AKSOY
Comparative Political Institutions

Editorial Board

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Onur ERPUL
Turkish Foreign Policy, International Security, International Relations Theories
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Seçkin KÖSTEM
Development Cooperation, International Relations, Regional Studies, Studies of the Turkic World, Politics in International Relations
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Efe TOKDEMIR
Terrorism in International Relations, Security Studies, War Studies
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Homeira MOSHIRZADEH
International Relations Theories
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Middle East Studies, Politics in International Relations, International History
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Deepshikha SHAHI

Deepshikha Shahi is Professor of Politics and International Relations at the O.P. Jindal Global University, India. She is the recipient of the Alexander Von Humboldt Fellowship for experienced researchers, and the Co-chair of the European International Studies Association’s standing section on “Globalising IR”. Her research interests revolve around Global International Relations, practice theory, philosophy of science, pedagogical practices, politics of knowledge-production, and Indian politics. She is the author of Global IR Research Programme: A Futuristic Foundation of ‘One and Many’ (2023, Palgrave Macmillan), Advaita as a Global International Relations Theory (2019, Routledge), Kautilya and Non-Western IR Theory (2018, Palgrave Macmillan), and Understanding Post-9/11 Afghanistan: A Critical Insight into Huntington’s Civilizational Approach (2017, E-International Relations). She is the editor of Sufism: A Theoretical Intervention in Global International Relations (2020, Rowman and Littlefield). Her writings have appeared in the European Journal of International Relations, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Economic and Political Weekly, Global Intellectual History, and All Azimuth, among others.
International Relations Theories
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Pınar GÖZEN ERCAN
International Security, International Law, International Relations Theories

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