CREATING A FAR-RIGHT INTERNATIONALE?

They are young, good-looking, powerful – but not a household name. I would like you to know them. They - these are 27-year-old Samuel Samson and 36-year-old Jacob Helberg. Considering their young age, they hold relatively high positions in the current U.S. administration. Their main task is to serve as the government’s emissaries to far-right parties in Europe.

Barely out of college, Samson was appointed “Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor” at the State Department. The irony cannot be lost considering that his mission is to tour Europe in order to promote far-right, autocratic, and anti-EU parties – in France, in Germany, in the UK, and in other countries. He is shaking hands with the leaders of “Alternative für Deutschland” – Alternative for Germany - with Marine Le Pen from “Rassemblement National” in France or with Nigel Farage, the man who convinced his compatriots that U.K.’s leaving the European Union was a good idea. Jacob Helberg, whose official title is “Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment” focuses his efforts on France, a task he is well suited for. Born to a French mother and an American father, he grew up in Europe, but attended college in the USA.

The U.S. interference is not a secret though. Traditionally, a president’s inauguration was considered a domestic affair, a celebration by and for the American people where no foreign dignitaries are normally invited to. Not so in January of last year: It was an illustrious gathering of foreign politicians of a certain leaning, among them extremist Eric Zemmour from France, whose party “Reconquete” makes Marine Le Pen look harmless. Not subtly at all, the party’s name alludes to Spain’s “Reconquista”, the country’s “purge” from Jews and Muslims some 500 years ago. Doesn’t Zemmour remember that he would have been among those being expelled? Besides Brexit proponent Nigel Farage, AfD co-chairman Tino Chrupalla graced the tribune with his presence. The irony doesn’t end here: Bearing a Polish name, Chrupalla promotes “Germany to the Germans”. Considering his religious affiliation, one would assume it unsettles Helberg to hear that one of Chrupalla’s predecessors belittled the Holocaust as “a bird dropping in German history”.

It is Helberg’s background which holds the key why the current administration, beyond an ideological affinity, takes this keen interest in promoting a certain group of parties on the other side of the Atlantic. Helberg who studied cyber security and had worked in Silicon Valley also serves as senior advisor to Alex Karp, the co-founder of the surveillance company Palantir. Initially supporting the Democratic Party, Helberg entered the world of “tech bros” when he married Keith Rabois, who - together with Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and others – was one of the co-founders of PayPal. It was none other than Sam Altman who officiated the wedding in 2018. When the newlyweds chose their home in Florida, Ivanka and Jared Kushner became their neighbors. Peter Thiel and Alex Karp – who is fluent in German and who got his Ph.D. from Goethe University Frankfurt – are old fellow-travelers, their alliance going back to shared years at Stanford.

But Samson and Helberg, they are only the charming executioners of big tech’s strategy. The masterminds are the Peter Thiels, Alex Karps, Sam Altmans, Elon Musks and alikes who in turn use the current administration for their own purposes. Why do these technocrats take such an interest in the political affairs of Europe? Let’s take a look at the program of the parties they promote. No matter in which European country, what all far-right parties have in common is their vehement opposition to the institution of the European Union, their attempt to undermine, to even destroy it. In the U.K. they were already successful in orchestrating “Brexit”, much to the later chagrin of many who had voted for it. Why is the European Union perceived as a hostile target? I willingly admit that some of their detailed regulations are going overboard, and that at times the bureaucracy in Brussels has to be curbed. The main reason, however, is the “Digital Services Act” which became a law in all member states of the EU in 2024. In short: It aims to make the online environment safer, more transparent, and more accountable. It protects the individual from social media, on-line platforms etc. Its objective is to curb defamation, hate speech, disinformation, abuse and things alike. And it holds the large technology platforms accountable to adhere to this standard. There is already a lawsuit pending against Elon Musk’s “x”. The EU, so far, became a bulwark to protect the privacy, the rights of the individual against almighty tech companies which fervently try to tear down this fence. That’s the reason behind Vance’, Rubio’s and their consorts’ narrative of “free speech” being allegedly under assault in Europe: “Europe has devolved into a hotbed of digital censorship, mass migration, restrictions on religious freedom, and numerous assaults on democratic self-governance”. No, we simply don’t allow to shamelessly and without consequences spread lies. It is quite brazen to point the finger at other countries when on their own side of the Atlantic people are losing their job, even get arrested when voicing a differing opinion, when shows and broadcasts are being cancelled for political reasons, when people start glancing over their shoulder before daring to utter their opinion.

Another common denominator of the far-right is their preference for autocratic rule – not necessarily outright dictatorship - to electoral democracy. Peter Thiel has voiced his skepticism, even disdain for the latter more than once. The underlying conviction is that only a strong leadership which keeps “interference” from people’s representation and the judiciary at minimum will empower the West to successfully compete with China, a country whose leadership is not “impeded” by such a disturbing nuisance like checks and balances. Once upon a time there was the “Comintern” or “Communist Internationale’ which threatened Western democracies. Maybe we now enter the era of a new, of a “Far-Right Internationale”. There is more to be said, so stay tuned.