European Political Science Review
The international and transnational politics of the far right: an emergent research program
2026-09-07
This article offers a state-of-the-art review of a new and growing research program in International Relations (IR) that analyzes the far right’s inter- and transnational politics. Responding to the rise of far-right leaders, parties, and movements worldwide, this nascent literature sheds light on the inter- and transnational drivers, patterns, connections, and effects of far-right politics. To further consolidate and develop this emerging research program, as this article argues, it is imperative to integrate this literature into a wider framework that delineates different analytical approaches and research agendas. For this purpose, the article identifies and examines five research strands: (1) foreign and security policy, (2) international thought, (3) the global causes of the rise of the far right, (4) trans- and international collaboration, and (5) international norms, institutions, and orders. It appraises their different analytical perspectives and insights, connects each research strand with various IR paradigms, subdisciplines, and literatures, and identifies unexplored lines of inquiry. Thereby, the article aims to broaden and diversify the theoretical, empirical, and methodological scope of this research program and to further facilitate synergies between IR and far-right studies. It then discusses a series of limitations and challenges facing this research program and proposes a level-of-analysis approach to advance it.