The Global Progressive Mobilisation offers a potential path for the left to counter rising authoritarianism through international solidarity
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/owen-jones. "The international right has CPAC. Has the left finally found its answer? | Owen Jones | The Guardian." April 23, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
Jones argues that the left needs to copy the far right's playbook of international cooperation to fight back against rising authoritarianism. He points to Spain's successful progressive coalition as proof that when moderate and radical left parties work together and reject free-market economics, they can actually win and deliver real change.
Conclusion
The Global Progressive Mobilisation in Barcelona represents a promising model for how progressives can unite internationally to counter the far right's transnational influence, but success requires social democrats to break with neoliberalism and ally with more radical left forces
Premises
- The far right operates as a transnational force with successful cross-border cooperation (exemplified by CPAC and figures like Viktor Orbán)
- Social democracy's embrace of neoliberalism since the 1990s and subsequent austerity policies after 2008 created the conditions for far-right rise
- Spain's progressive coalition government under Sánchez demonstrates that left unity can work, achieving significant policy victories while maintaining economic growth
- The Global Progressive Mobilisation attracted major progressive leaders from the Global South, showing international appetite for left coordination
- European social democratic leaders like Keir Starmer remain committed to failed neoliberal orthodoxy, as evidenced by their absence from Barcelona
- A left united around economic justice that redirects anger toward entrenched wealth rather than migrants offers the most plausible alternative to authoritarianism
Assumptions
- International coordination is necessary to effectively counter transnational threats
- Economic models and policies are primary drivers of political outcomes
- Coalition governments between social democrats and radical left can be stable and effective
- Public anger about economic conditions can be redirected toward different targets through political leadership
- The Spanish model of progressive governance is transferable to other contexts