Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warns of the rise of populist figures across the world, asserting that their failure in elections does not necessarily mean they have had no effect.
The first female African American secretary of state made the comments as French right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen was projected to lose the presidential election, unlike the populist trend in the UK and the US, which led to Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency respectively.
Rice (pictured below) noted that the election, in which pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron was appearing victor, is “very significant.”
“It comes in a wave of elections in which we’re seeing populists have a great deal of power,” she said on Sunday. “But I think we’d make a mistake if we see populist candidates who don’t win and then we think it’s had no effect.”
Just being presented at this level and necessitating a response to their populist issues means populists are gaining more…