Posted on Wednesday, January 8, 2025

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by Ben Solis

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While President Donald Trump’s historic political comeback was undoubtedly the most dramatic and high-profile victory anywhere in the world for conservatives in 2024, it was hardly the only one. In 2025, the global right could be poised for even more significant progress.

As Trump is set to return to the White House, the notoriously unpopular liberal Canadian Prime Minister announced just this week that he would be resigning after nearly a decade in power. Opinion polls show Trudeau’s Liberal Party trailing the Conservative Party by as many as 24 points.

Meanwhile, in Germany, the progressive left government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz is deeply unpopular. Ahead of elections this February, the conservative Christian Democratic Union is polling in first place at between 30 and 34 percent.

In the United Kingdom, new liberal Prime Minister Keir Starmer is already deeply unpopular. While the Conservative Party experienced a major setback in elections earlier this year, it was largely due to vote cannibalization as the even more conservative Reform Party surged in popularity.

This conservative swell isn’t just isolated to a few countries, either. In the European Parliament elections this past June, the conservative European People’s Party emerged as the clear victor, with other conservative parties also making gains. After three decades in which liberals dominated Brussels, conservatives’ sweeping victories represented a seismic political shift on the continent.

In all of these cases, the America First policies pioneered by Trump have had a clear influence in setting the priorities of conservative leaders. In Europe as in the United States, three key issues – energy, immigration, and “woke” dogma – were particularly prominent themes in conservative parties’ campaigns.

While these gains for conservatives surprised many in the political and media establishments, they should not have been so shocking given the societal rot and decline facing voters. Like the United States, Europe has seen a collapse in its manufacturing sector. Europe has also dealt with stagnant economic growth and an enormous influx of migrants. As former Italian Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi once said, “Decline is not a destiny; it is a choice” – and voters are choosing an alternative.

Perhaps the example that best captures the conservative resurgence in Europe and how successful it can be is Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Italy.

Meloni rode a wave of backlash to failed liberal policies to power in 2022, shocking many in the European political establishment. Voters’ top concerns were rising energy costs and unchecked mass migration from North Africa wreaking havoc in Italian communities.

Seeing herself as both a thinker and a doer, Meloni shares a motto with Gasperi that comes from St. John Chrysostom: “The wise men did not set out because they saw the Bethlehem star; they saw the star because they made the effort to journey.”

Meloni’s policy program, which contains many of the same priorities as Donald Trump’s in the United States, can best be described as “Italy First.” She has expanded energy production, cracked down on illegal immigration, and adopted a broad “anti-woke” stance for her government.

Retired Professor of Political Science Ludovic Gagneux, who advised the leadership of the conservative Rally for the Republic party on family and youth policies in the late 1980s, told me in an interview that “Meloni’s policies translated Trumpism into a language that even Brussels could understand.” While European elites initially decried Meloni as a “fascist,” they have now been forced to begrudgingly acknowledge her success.

In response to illegal and excessive immigration, Meloni introduced the Mattei Plan, which helps build up the economies of nations where migrants originate from while also benefiting the Italian economy. “The goal was to give individuals considering leaving reasons to stay, focusing on job opportunities, training, and growth prospects,” Italian Senator Nicola Calandrini, the president of the Budget Commission, explained.

As a result, Italy saw a 58 percent decrease in illegal immigrant arrivals in 2024 compared to 2023. Leaders at the European Union have now expressed admiration for the plan’s initial results and have made their own commitments to strengthening border controls.

Meloni has also advocated for the extraction of domestic natural gas to address the energy crisis and reduce Italy’s reliance on Russian natural gas imports. While other European nations are becoming increasingly dependent on unreliable wind and solar, Italy is quickly becoming one of the most energy-diverse countries on the continent.

But Meloni’s greatest contribution to her country is perhaps her staunch commitment to reviving patriotism and a strong sense of national Italian identity. “Mass illegal migration is one of the primary tactics used in the fight against national identities,” she has warned. She understands that in order for Italy to be strong, Italians must have a strong sense of their national identity and heritage.

2024 was a banner year for global conservatives. But with Republicans taking control in the United States and conservatives leading in critical elections throughout the West in 2025, 2024 may well be viewed by history as the beginning, not the climax, of a great conservative resurgence.

Ben Solis is the pen name of an international affairs journalist, historian, and researcher.