Leonid Bershidsky, Columnist

The Global Left Has a Plan to Combat Populism

But German socialists and their allies may need bigger ideas to stall a populist takeover of democracies.

March 13, 2017 at 5:07 PM UTC

Leonid Bershidsky, formerly Bloomberg Opinion’s Europe columnist, is a member of the Bloomberg News Automation Team. He recently published Russian translations of George Orwell’s “1984” and Franz Kafka’s “The Trial.”

Wanted: big ideas.
Photographer: Tobias Schwarz/AFP -- Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

The man who would depose Angela Merkel as German chancellor also has a global plan: To reverse the onslaught of nationalism and populism.

Martin Schulz, the Social Democrat (SPD) candidate for the chancellorship, laid out that vision in Berlin on Monday, speaking to comrades from the Progressive Alliance, an international group uniting socialist parties that is a testament to Germany's growing global political influence. Formed in 2013 as the SPD's brainchild, it includes the major European socialist parties as well as political forces from faraway lands, such as India's National Congress and the U.S. Democrats. Even Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager, made an appearance this year to talk about politics in the post-truth era.