Martin Wolf

Who belongs here?

Who doesn't belong here?

Do we like all these foreigners here?

Well, the reaction of many people is no.

Then there's obviously been huge destabilization of the position of men in society.

So in quite a number of countries, the most reactionary part of the public are men.

And we've been noticing quite big divergence of opinions between men and women on what they would like.

That's not true of everywhere, but it's very, very, I think, a very, very important factor.

And then I think there is something permanent, which in my book on this subject I refer to, which is in Plato's Republic, so written two and a half thousand years ago, which is

People like to have a powerful, strong leader they trust, a charismatic person whom they believe in, who promises to represent their interests, solve all their problems, and above all, bring down what they see as predatory, corrupt people.

indifferent elites who have seized all the levers of power in the society.

And this final element is, I think, if you look back at human history, it seems quite a permanent feature of us as social beings.

This sort of leader is very, very attractive.

I think that's a very good question, and I wish I understood it better.

One of the things I have discovered is, and it's perhaps inevitable if you look at the history of Central Europe, which was sort of, as it were, constant turmoil.

So some of the Hungarians I know still feel very bitter about the outcome of the First World War when a sizable part of the country was cut away from and given to Romania.

And Viktor Orbán himself, I've met him and talked to him before he returned to power.

in 2010.

And he very much made this point.

So their sort of historical resentments often go in many different directions.