The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism is Reclaiming Power

Money from aristocrats, tech bros, and EU funding are all being channelled into an assault on rights across Europe – advanced by Americans and benefiting Russia. It is a dedicated campaign with long-term implications. Katherine Stewart reports.

On 26 May, Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation – one of America’s most influential conservative think tanks – gathered with leaders of the French far-right at the Interallied Union Circle, an exclusive club on Paris’ right bank.

The invitation card promised a conversation on “the future of conservatism in France and the West”. In an interview with Le Monde, Roberts explained that “we’re worried about the West, about France”.

The next day, the US State Department made the plan official.