The 'populist wave' crashes over international relations

From Donald Trump to Boris Johnson, the group of world leaders with an anti-system stance bordering on populism grows ever more powerful, crashing over global diplomacy and threatening multilateralism and international cooperation.

For many observers, the "populist wave" sweeping democratic countries claimed its first victory in June 2016 with the passing of the Brexit referendum, months before the election of a billionaire Republican as president of the United States.

Whether the term "populist" applies to conservative politician and Brexit champion Boris Johnson is a question for academics and future historians.

What is certain is that his appointment Wednesday as Britain's new prime minister, hard on the heels of the rise of far-right leaders such as Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Matteo Salvini in Italy, was welcomed by Trump.

"When you look at the G20 leaders, you see a lot of people now -- almost half of the leaders -- that generally speaking are friendly oriented towards Trump as an American leader," said Ian Bremmer, president of consultancy the Eurasia Group.

Bremmer noted that many leaders propelled by the populist wave have come to power in Trump's wake, pointing to Britain, Brazil, Italy and Australia's Scott Morrison.

But he added that many had been in power much longer, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Argentinian president Mauricio Macri and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erodgan, as well as leaders from more authoritarian countries, such as Russia's Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"I don't think (Boris) Johnson will be very comfortable in that company," said Thomas Wright, the Brookings Institution director of the Center on the United States and Europe.

"We see these leaders getting together and making some sort of illiberal pack... He is more moderate than they are."